tasting notes: blackberry, apple butter, crème brûlée
region: cauca
province: inzá
association: asorcafé
community: palmichal
farm: buena vista
producer: emma chantre
varietals: caturra and colombia
elevation: 1800 masl
process: washed
fermentation: 12-24 hours, dry
drying: 12-15 days on raised beds under parabolic cover
importer: red fox
from red fox:
Emma Chantre is a well-known coffee producer in Palmichal who has been developing her business since 1976. Like so many other producers, Emma learned how to cultivate coffee while supporting its ecosystem through generations of ancestral knowledge. Her farm, Finca Buena Vista, is 4 hectares and filled with a diverse set of native fruit trees, flowering plants, and coffee varieties of Caturra and Colombia. We are thrilled to have Emma’s coffee again this season and look forward to more during the years to come.
Deep in the interior of Colombia’s department of Cauca lies the province of Inzá, known in Colombia as La Tierra Adentro. On a good day, it is a two hour drive from Popayán and La Plata in either direction, but frequent mudslides and road closures mean it’s often not easily accessible. On clear days in the village of Inzá, one can see straight up to the Nevado del Huila, the highest volcano in Colombia. The famous Paez river runs east through the valley, connecting Cauca and Huila. Very little coffee is grown below 1750 masl with a great portion growing at 1900 masl. Caturra, Castillo, and Typica are found in the region, with Caturra being the dominant variety.
Coffee producers of Inzá often share similar values and traditions. Typically handed down through inheritance, each farm is 1-2 hectares and produces 1300 kilos of parchment coffee per season on average. Community members or day laborers are hired during the harvest season while each family maintains their own farm throughout the year. Cherry is processed for defects, depulped and dried on site. Parchment coffee is loaded onto a mule for transport or driven to the nearest dry mill. When coffee does not require immediate attention most producers focus on growing food for their community. When the opportunity arises some take action on improving construction of their processing areas or homes. Growing coffee is a family tradition and is one of the most exported agricultural crops next to cut flowers in Colombia.
Asorcafé was founded in 2004 by ten coffee growers who were tired of selling their coffee to parchment buyers who only offered prices below the national market. Asorcafé exudes an entrepreneurial spirit as they have become leaders of their coffee growing region. Asorcafé, in conjunction with private and state organizations, provides aid to their members including subsidies for domestic economy, education, job training, and healthcare services.