Nestor Alpe, Colombia | Washed

Arte y Pasión Cafetera

Constitution: Feb 15, 2024 Municipality: Ortega, Tolima Veredas: Los Olivos, Altoguayabos, San Nicolás, El carmen, Santuario & more Associates: 62 total (17 women and 45 men) Productive area of the associates: 101 hectares in coffee

Story

The association was established through the initiative of several coffee growers from the rural areas of Los Olivos, Altoguayabos, San Nicolás, El Carmen, and neighboring communities. Motivated by the low coffee prices offered in the urban center of Ortega and the lack of incentives for quality coffee, they decided to form their own organization.

The association's primary focus and social objective are the production of high-quality coffee. Its core activities include:

• Producing, purchasing, processing, and selling coffee in both domestic and international markets.
• Managing various processes to empower, train, and strengthen organizations in coffee production technologies through business agreements aimed at improving their productivity.
• Promoting agro-environmental coffee production to enhance the environmental, social, and economic well-being of producers and allied communities.
• Processing and commercializing coffee locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.

The Process

The key aspect of his processing method is the careful manual selection of cherries at optimal ripeness for his specialty-purpose lot. He allows the coffee cherries to undergo an oxidation phase for 12 to 14 hours. After this, he pulps the coffee and ferments it in wide-open tanks for 30 hours. The coffee is then washed twice using exceptionally clean water before being slowly dried in parabolic solar dryers for 10 to 15 days, depending on the weather.