Colombia

Delagua

/Behind the story/

Carlos Adolfo Herrera is 49 years old and lives on his 1.5 hectare farm with his wife, Maria Piedad Bonilla and their three children. Carlos inherited the farm 10 years ago and started with nothing. He planted the first trees and has since been able to rely on coffee for economic independence. He currently has 7,000 coffee trees planted, a mix of Castillo, Colombia, Caturra and Typica varieties. He and his wife, both are committed to working on the farm, while the children focus on school. During the harvest, they employ additional 3 people on the farm to ensure that their high-quality standards are met. Carlos' attention to water conservation is in direct alignment with the purpose of Delagua, whose stated mission is to conserve and celebrate this invaluable resource, by leaving the rest of his property to showcase natural biodiversity.


/Delagua Coffee Paradise/

The Delagua Coffee Paradise concept is founded on the ideals of conservation of water, biodiversity protection and sharing value through processing techniques and market access. This model is obviously similar to the Neighbours & Crops program founded by La Palma y El Tucan, where a team seeks out small scale coffee producers in the municipality of Cienaga, Magdalena that are willing to partner with Delagua in processing the coffee cherries they grow. In return for partnering, the producing partners receive 60% more than the national price, organic fertilizers as agronomy and additional coffee trees grown at La Palma’s nursery and picking support as well. We have been purchasing coffees from this project and we are so excited to release our first coffee from Delagua Coffee Paradise.

/Process - Natural/

The Natural Process begins with a pre-fermentation stage of 24 hours at the receival station. From here, the cherries will be moved to the drying stage, coffee will be placed in African-style raised beds for over 25 days and will be racked and rotated every 4 hours. Due to the levels of sugar and moisture, the first day will be crucial to avoid microbial activity prolongation. Finally, parchment coffee will pass through our dry milling station and hand sorting stage.

/Brew guide/
Age to drink: 5 days after roast
Coffee amount: 15g
Water amount: 250g, ppm 100-125
Temperature: 93-94 Celsius
Pours: 4 pours, 50g, 70g, 60g, 70g
Brewing time: 2:15-2:30