Colombia El Indio

Country/Region: Colombia, Tolima

Varietal: Caturra

Processing: Natural

Elevation: 1500 - 2000 m.a.s.l.

We Taste: Blackberry, White Grape, Cacao Nibs

Planadas is a municipality located in Tolima, the third largest coffee-producing region in Colombia. Coffee in Tolima is mainly grown by smallholder producers including indigenous and Afro-descendant groups, most of them using organic techniques.

This coffee is produced by 175 co-operative members in the El Indio program, under the care of ASOPEP, an association of growers in Planadas dedicated to quality and sustainability. The association aims to equip producers with environmentally-friendly techniques, and also cupping knowledge so that they are able to assess their own coffees.

This coffee is a natural-processed lot, while most growers in Tolima process their coffee using washed processing techniques. The coffee cherries are carefully hand-picked, choosing only the ripest.

The coffees are sent to the ASOPEP communal drying station, where they undergo hand sorting to remove any defects, and are then sundried on raised beds under temperature-controlled conditions.