Luz Marina Arias
For the second year, we have the honor of presenting coffee from our friends in the village of Rondón. This year, for the first time, from Mrs. Luz Marina Arias, who we were really looking forward to and who is part of our mujeres project. We are very pleased to be able to promote her work and offer her excellent coffee. We repeatedly spent several days with Luz, helping her on the farm, taking photos and enjoying the countryside. We have always felt at home there and look forward to remembering her hospitality this year with at least a cup of her delicious coffee and looking forward to our next visit.
We keep in touch with the family very often, especially through their son Edison, who actually introduced both parents to selection coffee a few years ago. Together with him we are working on improving the processing processes, on new experiments with honey and the natural processing method and to support them in their efforts we have purchased a hygrometer, a very essential tool for measuring the moisture content of drying coffee. Since now all their investments and borrowed money are going to build a processing station, a warehouse and a coffee lab, we have been able to help them at least in this way for the time being. In the future, we at Chicas would like to help them improve their coffee drying infrastructure. We have plans to install better awnings for drying, complete with a moisture extraction system that will be powered by solar energy. If you would like to support the farm, become a subscriber, or otherwise get involved directly with them, please get in touch!
COUNTRY
Colombia
REGION
Rondón, Boyacá
FARM
La Hacienda, Pomorroso
ALTITUDE
1650 – 1700 m
SIZE OF THE FARM
0,5 – 1 ha
COFFEE VARIETIES
Colombia, Týpica, castillo, Tabi, Maka, Castillo, Tambo, Bourbon, Maragogype, Catuai, Laurina.
ABOUT THE FARM
Together with her husband Nemecio Borda and son Edison Borda, Luz Marina Arias farms 4 “farms”, or plots of land that are 5 to 10 minutes apart. The farm El Volcán, the family home with the plantation, is the basis of the farm, which is looked after by Mr Nemecio. The coffee is planted here at an altitude of 1750 m on an area of about 1 ha and is planted with a mixture of Colombia varieties, which predominates, then Castillo, Týpica, we also found Red and Yellow Bourbon and Maragogype. The family is currently planning to renovate the El Volcán plantation, planting single varietal lots, such as the Pink Bourbon (this variety had its first harvest this year and is present in the microlot to a small extent) and preserving some of the original varieties.
Another plantation is La Hacienda, which is managed by Mrs Luz Marina. This roughly one-hectare plantation was bought relatively recently, about four years ago, and is also due for renewal soon. The plantation is situated at an altitude of 1620 metres above sea level. At the moment, the family is investing in infrastructure development and building a small processing station, warehouse and coffee lab right here on the Hacienda to serve the needs of all 4 family plantations/plots in order to unify and simplify the harvesting processes.
The last two plots are not even two hectares in total, and are about ten minutes apart from each other and from the original plantations. In the future, we are looking forward to harvesting from these plots as they grow lots of varieties such as Laurina, Geisha, Mokka and Wush Wush. These are experiments that are really the exception in the whole region. This year we tasted the first harvested coffee from these newly planted lots and we have to say that there is a lot to look forward to.
The village of Rondón, in whose jurisdiction the plantations are located, has a harvest only once a year, unlike most of Colombia, due to the hydrometeorological conditions.
ABOUT THE LOTS
Our particular lot was harvested in December 2022 and January 2023, is from two small plantations La Hacienda and Pomorroso.
Castillo - washed (LOT CO-23-029)
A washed method with double fermentation was used in the processing of the lot. After harvesting, the ripe cherries were fermented for 24 hours while submerged in water, after which the so-called ‘flotes’, floating cherries of poor quality, were removed. The skin and some of the flesh were then removed and further fermentation took place for 24 hours in sealed black plastic bags. The coffee was then washed and dried in a traditional drying oven called a marquesina. This is a plastic-covered structure and inside there are raised drying screens, called African beds.
Coffee profile: this is a fruity coffee with a sparkling acidity, despite the longer fermentation, the profile shows more citrus fruits such as orange or tangerine and hints of yellow fruit, depending on the roasting profile.
CO-24-050 Pomoroso
For this lot, called ‘Pomoroso’, the processing procedure was similar to the last harvest. That is, washed with double fermentation.
After harvesting only the ripe cherries, the coffee is left to ferment for 36 hours in a cherry bag. It is then cleaned with a wet mill to the coffee bean, followed by a 24-hour fermentation in an open tank at a constant temperature. It is then dried under a canopy.
CO-24-051
Luz Marina’s coffee is double fermented. The first fermantac eprobates in the hopper of the mill. It is fermented in the cherry and for 36 hours. Then the coffee is cleaned with a wet mill and the second fermentation takes place in a tank with air for 24 hours, where the temperature is kept low to prevent overfermentation. It is washed again and dried in the farm’s drying room in the sun or partial shade.
