July 2021

Feature #33

Altura Coffee Co. know just what gets us excited and so they reached out to us to collaborate and share some unusual.

While Natural processed coffees are not unusual in themselves, they're less common in Colombia (approx 75% of Colombian coffee is washed processed) due to the weather conditions being unfavourable. What makes this particular natural so interesting is that the producer, Andres Tujillo exclusevely uses natural processing for his and his fathers harvest. So keen to have this story told, green bean was held for us until our schedules aligned, something we are grateful for. 

Our July collaboration marks our third time partnering with Altura Coffee Co and builds on an extensive catalogue of Colombian coffees and snapshots of coffee production in Colombia. Lets explore this collab;

THE PRODUCER:

From our very first conversation with Karl, founder of Cedro Alto, we knew that these guys were our kind of people. We’d briefly spoken via Instagram a few years prior, but reconnecting to talk about Andres confirmed that Cedro Alto are different, in the best possible way. When we spoke to gather a background on Andres, in the fashion we normally do, we realised just how progressive these guys are. Wanting to step away from painting a picture of the producer from their one lens, there was no “story’ written. Karl explained this is because he believes “it’s very hard to fit a family of complex humans into a paragraph”, as is quite standard within the industry and something that he admits to having done in the past, but believes that things can be done better, to provide insight into the unique and complex lives of coffee producers. Due to the roller coaster of global events, their new approach just wasn’t available yet. ironically, Karl recounted how in March 2020 just days before Covid-19 turned the world upside down, he had been sitting at the in the family home of Andres and his wife chatting about whether Covid was a big deal or not. The alternative offered by Karl was to put some questions directly to Andres, we’ve also asked if Andres has question that he would like to ask us, because transparency should be a two way street for the benefit everyone in the supply chain, not a marketing buzzword. Stay tuned, we hope to be able to present Andres’s answers along with his questions in the near future, due to the nature of language barriers, two way translations and Covid it has not been available at time of publication.

CEDRO ALTO:

Not an association, not a co-operative, but a collective. What does it mean? In a nutshell, various small lot holders, together able to access a market that is willing to pay a fair price for their micro lots separately. Something unattainable for small lot holders working independently. Farmers and producers are not tied to Cedro Alto by contracts or agreements, with members able to utilise shared resources to receive better outcomes, similar to that of larger operations who can access the specialty market themselves. Cedro Alto cups, scores and provides feedback on all samples they receive from producers and offers to purchase at an agreed rate based upon what they believe roasters will pay for such lots. Through pre financing the harvest, the collective assumes all risks, including that of price fluctuations and Spoilage, thus removing the uncertainty from the producer while offering a more predictable income without the long wait. Benefits including ongoing technical assistance is provided to members to help them improve cup quality and as a result, better earning potential. Cedro Alto also extend such recommendations of how to improve cup scores to non members who send samples for cupping. This feedback is provided with the intent of assisting farmers to reach micro lot quality (cup score of 86+) where it becomes logistically viable to sell these lots individually and opens the door to farmers being able to build “brand recognition” of their coffee, based on their name, be it in this case Andres Trujillo or Finca La Esparanza.

COLOMBIA F6 (VARIETAL):

One of the varieties grown by Andres goes by a few names such as, F6, Colombia F6 or Veriedad Colombia or just simply Colombia. Born of painstaking research and breeding by National Centre for Coffee Investigation, known as Cenicafe, F6 is a reference to the sixth generation of the variety Veriedad Colombia. Beginning in 1968, Cenicafe’s breeding programme aimed to create varieties with resistance to La Roya (the spanish name for coffee leaf rust). Variedad’s parentage comes from Caturra and Hybrido de Timor, making is part of the Catimor family. Note: Catimor is sometimes listed as a varietal, this simply refers broadly to the a coffee cultivar of the Catimor family. The resulting shrub is of small stature thanks to Caturra and disease resistance thanks to HDT. Released before Colombia’s 1983 leaf rust outbreak, it played a major part in protecting Colombia’s coffee industry. Created from the same research and breeding that gave life to another cultivar from the same programme, Castillo, the result of 5 generations of breeding. The success of F6 has seen the variety improved over the years and became the basis for the breeding of the variety Tabi (meaning “Good” in the dialect of the native Colombian Guambiano tribe).

TASTING NOTES:

Country: Colombia

Department:Tolima

Municapality: Planadas

Producer: Andres Tujillo

Farm: Finca La Esparanza

Farm size: 4 Hectares

Altitude: 1900 M.A.S.L

Varietal/Species: Typica, Caturra, Colombia F6

Process: Tank Fermented natural

Tasting notes: Floral Raspberry Rose Water Cinnamon Mulled Wine Acidity

RECIPE:

Pour Over: .

Ratio: 31.8g to 450g water

Time: 3:20 minute brew time

Aeropress:

Ratio: 15g to 250g

Method: 100g Bloom for 30 seconds with stir

Add 150g,

Stir and steep till 2:15

Slow press

A very big thanks to Altura Coffee Co. and Cedro Alto for the chance to share this coffee and the story. Be sure to follow us on social media or check back here for updates as we share our conversation with Andres with you soon.