This coffee comes from El Encanto, one of Juan Saldarriaga’s two farms just outside of Bolivar in Antioquia. El Encanto is Juan’s father Luis Saldarriaga’s favourite farm, he lives there and helps keep it in beautiful condition. On El Encanto there is an amazingly diverse varietal garden where the father and son along with their farm manager William Laverde have been growing lots of different varietals and seeing what works best in their environment.
We buy quite a lot of coffee from Juan Saldarriaga, the biggest volume coming from his other farm La Claudina. It’s really nice to have coffees from both of Juan’s farms on our list at the same time and particularly to be able to enjoy a range of washed and natural processes. The naturals are largely dried using a cold parabolic dryer on account of the tropical high humidity climate making it difficult to dry naturals without them succumbing to over-ferment.
Seasonal buying is about seeing coffee as a crop not a commodity, buying in harmony with the growing seasons to enjoy coffee at its best. This kind of buying has always been the backbone of our business and it’s something we’ve improved and refined every year.
