Colombia Washed Finca Vista Hermosa Luz Angelica Zuñiga Microlot (2020 Crop)

Luz Angelica Benavides Zuñiga comes from a multigenerational coffee-growing family from the municipality of Consacá, located in the central region of the department of Nariño. With the invaluable help of her son Alexander, Doña Luz grows the Castillo and Colombia varieties on her finca Vista Hermosa, which sits between 1,300 and 1,800 m.a.s.l in the vereda of El Tejar.

Vista Hermosa translates to “beautiful view”, and the finca lives up to its name, with expansive views of the Colombian Andes’ patchwork slopes and hillsides. The family purchased the property 15 years ago and they live in a house directly next to where their coffee is planted. The farm is only three kilometers—a ten-minute drive—from the town center and it spans approximately one hectare, all of which is planted with coffee and some plantain. The cafetal or coffee plantation, is divided into two lots, which are separated by a small stream. One planting is seven years old and the other just shy of its fifth birthday. According to Alexander, Vista Hermosa is 70% flat and 30% steep terrain. The soil is loam and of volcanic origin due to Consacá’s privileged position on the periphery of the semi-active Galeras Volcano. Alexander fertilizes his trees once or twice a year, depending on where they are situated. The flatter section of the farm is partially located in a wetland and therefore requires a different kind of management. They have had a slight issue with cochineal and coffee-leaf rust but it is currently well under control.

During the height of the harvest, which in this part of Nariño occurs in July, Alexander and Doña Luz employ up to ten local pickers to carry out the hand-selection of the cherry. After the coffee is brought in from the field and weighed, Luz and Alexander carry out the postcollection processing together. According to what time the harvest arrives, they either depulp right away or leave the cherry intact overnight. After de-pulping, they dry ferment the beans for 18 hours. The coffee is then washed and put out to dry in parabolic greenhouses for up to 20 days. In order to deliver their coffee to the local Café Occidente point of sale, they hire transportation and pay 2,000 Colombian pesos (less than a dollar) per carga.