Colombia Narino Samaniego (2019)

This is a washed coffee from various farmers in the municipality Samaniego, in the Nariño region of southern Colombia.

THE PRODUCERS

The farmers who contributed to this lot are situated throughout several veredas at altitudes ranging between 1,900 and 2,000 masl. Farms have a median area of 4.5ha and cultivate the varieties of Castillo, Caturra and Colombia

THE PROCESS

After the cherry was hand-selected at its peak moment of ripeness, the coffee was brought in from the fields, and processed in the traditional, wet-mill manner most common throughout Colombia. The beans were de-pulped, and fermented in tanks for twelve hours, after which they were washed and put out to dry on cement patios for five to ten days. The resulting cup has a pleasing acidity and notes of vanilla and Isabella grapes.

THE REGION

The municipality of Samaniego has a long agricultural tradition that dates back to Pre-Hispanic times. The original inhabitants of what is today Samaniego, located in the central part of the department of Nariño, were the Pastos, Sindaguas and Abades tribes. The Abades were not only farmers and miners but also artisans and musicians. The semi-nomadic Sindaguas lived between Nariño and the department of Cauca. They were known as the “Caribes del Pacífico”, the Caribbeans of the Pacific, and they were the first indigenous tribe to form an uprising against the Spanish colonizers; a revolutionary mutiny that took place on lands that are now known as the municipalities of Samaniego, Ancuya and Linares, among others. During this time, the Sindaguas violently absorbed the Abades people, becoming one, fierce, bellicose tribe that would unfortunately meet its end at the firearm-wielding hands of the Spanish invaders. This was the all-too familiar story of the violent colonization of the Southern American continent: a campaign of extermination and erasure, characterized by ruthless pillaging of natural resources and the implementation of the Catholic religion by the cross and spade of the Spanish court.

Today, Samaniego’s economy is centered around coffee and sugar cane production. In recent years, the security situation in Samaniego has been complicated to say the least, due to the presence of guerilla narcotrafficking groups, who have likely chosen this region for its proximity to the Ecuadorian border. We are very grateful to our producing partners in Samaniego for their continued hard work and dedication, especially when facing such obstacles. Furthermore, we hope to be able to visit this year, and look forward to meeting our allied cooperative’s—Café Occidente—local buyers, whom we are truly indebted to, for without them and the producers, this 100 % Samaniego blend, would be impossible to acquire.