Story

Carmen has been producing specialty coffee since 2011, when the local cooperation provided courses and training regarding specialty coffee production. She has 19,000 plants of the Caturra Chioso variety, a mutation that appeared in the Antioquia region that presents a floral and citric profile.

Carmen employs a team of women who are trained to pay close attention and pick only the ripest fruit. As the head of their respective families, the women are particularly invested in the farm’s success. The cherries are depulped on the same day and fermented for 96 hours in a mixed-batch approach before washing and drying for 15 days.

As part of a broader survey of the Urrao area in search of the natural mutation with its floral qualities, Peter found this amazing lot of Caturra Chiroso during Alchemy’s origin trip to Colombia in 2019 and purchased the coffee after being fundamentally impressed with Carmen’s work and also the success story she represents among her fellow producers. Bear in mind the most of Colombia’s producers are small producers unable to tap into economies of scale, and are also presented with pricing challenges from low global coffee prices.

Carmen has won the Colombia Cup of Excellence Competition, placing first, and has achieved a price of US$45/lb.

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