Kaizen – Andrés Julian Ortiz
Julian is the brother of William, with whom we have been working since the inception of Chicas 2020. Like William, Julian continues the family tradition of coffee farming and represents the third generation of farmers. Father Libardo represents the traditional Colombian farmer with his washed processes and traditional varieties. Julian and William represent the new generation by experimenting heavily in their coffee processes and planting new varieties. For example, the Geisha variety is now in its third generation, but the processing method has changed.
Julian and William say: “We are always taking courses and training, we are always striving to improve the quality of the flavor profile, that has always been our priority. We’ve started to look at different fermentation processes, but I have to say it’s not easy to change our parents’ way of thinking, although we understand that, given that they’ve always been in touch with traditional approaches. That is, plant the coffee, grow it, sell it at the price that is on offer.”
William says: “I see it as a mistake that we don’t look for added value and that has started to interest me a lot. Little by little, we are already seeing the first results. With a lot of effort and determination I am already taking care of my own coffee trees, I can afford a piece of land and have a few trees for myself and my brother. This gives me enough freedom to start experimenting with new fermentation processes that have led to better flavor results. Today, in particular, I continue the process of standardizing these fermentations.”
COUNTRY
Colombia
REGION
the settlement of Vereda Santa Inés, town of Bruselas, in the Huila area
FARM
Finca Kaizen
ALTITUDE
1600 – 1700 m
SIZE OF THE FARM
6 ha
COFFEE VARIETIES
Caturra, Pink Bourbon, Colombia, Castillo, Geisha
ABOUT THE FARM
The Huila region is now one of the most famous among coffee lovers and it was here that our plans to establish Chicas Industry first began to take shape. We first visited the region in March 2019 and fell in love with the place. Especially the area around Bruselas, a small town near the tourist and coffee-famous city of San Agustin. San Agustin is, among other things, one of the largest coffee producers in the entire region. Moreover, much of the coffee surprises with its quality and the farmers with their knowledge and technological equipment. Various associations and associations have been set up among the farmers and it is no problem to taste the coffee directly from the farmer.
The farm has been in the family for two generations, the family moved to the area and started working in coffee in 1965 and since 2009 they have owned this particular farm, which is also their home. At the moment, Mr. Libardo Ortiz and his wife and their two eldest sons Julian and William are farming.
“With a lot of effort and working together, we achieved our secondary technical education in coffee while always helping with the work related to the farm.”
ABOUT THE PROCESSES
William is a big-hearted experimenter. He is very committed to lactic and carbonic fermentations. He takes inspiration from social media and training courses and together with his brother Julian they take fermentations a step further.
Geisha - honey (LOT CO-22-055)
We try to pick the ripest fruits of the harvest, then we peel the coffee and move to the fermentation area. The fermentation is carried out in an airtight stainless steel tank, a process that takes up to 48 hours depending on the temperature of the coffee in the tank. This is followed by a gradual drying process which takes approximately 15 days. The last stage of processing is the stabilization of the already dried coffee in bags, which takes at least 3 weeks.
