Colombia Nariño Occidente Castillo - Darwin Julian Cáez Arteaga *TOP LOT*

This is a washed coffee from producer Darwin Julian Caez Arteaga and his farm Finca Pancoger 3, located in El Tejar, in the municipality of Consaca, Narino. The farm is situated at 1,900masl and is made up of trees predominantly of the Castillo variety.

THE PRODUCER

Darwin Julian Cáez Arteaga represents the small, but industrious younger generation of Colom- bian coffee growers. At just 35 years-old, Darwin has successfully followed in his grandfather’s and father’s footsteps by continuing the family tradition of growing coffee on the green skirts of the semi-active Galeras Volcano, in the vereda of El Tejar, one of the 30 veredas that make up the municipality of Consacá, located on the circumference of the Galeras, in the department of Nar- iño. He has been growing coffee at finca Pancoger 3 for the last seven years. The property was given to him by his grandfather, who is still a coffee producer himself, and is located next to his father’s farm. The finca used to be a much bigger plantation and as it was divided into smaller plots, his maternal grandfather bought the land that now houses three generations of coffee growers, side by side.

Pancoger 3 spans a total surface area of one hectare, which is all planted with the Castillo variety. When Darwin’s grandfather farmed this same lot, he grew only Caturra, so a few older Caturra trees remain among Darwin’s approximately 3,000 Castillo trees. Besides coffee, Darwin grows plantains and guineos, a non-plantain cooking variety that is less starchy than its bigger counter- part. The finca’s topography is mostly steep, with areas of flatter land. The soil is “tierra negra”, literally “black earth”, an appropriate and descriptive name for fertile, volcanically-enriched soil. Darwin works alongside his wife Blanca, and together they carry out all the non-harvest work. They fertilize once a year with chemical fertilizer and three times a year with homemade organic compost made up of coffee cherry pulp, gallinaza or chicken waste, and ashes.

THE PROCESS

Coffee is then thoroughly washed, fermented for an average of 18 hours, and then patio dried for around 6 hours.

THE REGION

In this part of Nariño, the harvest season starts in May and goes through July. There is a tremen- dous shortage of pickers in this region, so therefore when they can’t find qualified workers, well- versed in the intricacies of the hand-selection of cherry, Darwin and Blanca harvest their coffee themselves, with the help of their parents, parents-in-law, siblings and neighbors. They work in passes, harvesting the ripest fruit at Pancoger 3 in one week, working their neighbor’s harvests, and returning to their farm to harvest every three weeks. They usually harvest Monday and Tues- day, and de-pulp on Tuesday afternoon, leaving the beans to ferment for up to 24 hours, then washing and putting the coffee out to dry on patios for four to six days, and then repeating the process until all the cherry is processed. The resulting cup is juicy with notes of chamomile tea, mandarin orange and dried fruits.