Gardelli - GUATEMALA Finca Bella Vista

VARIETY Castillo

REGION Caldas

Farmer Multiple farmers

Altitude 1800masl

PROCESS Anaerobic Natural

NOTES Cherry, Papaya, Plum and dark chocolate

THE STORY BEHIND

Anserma is located in the west of the Caldas department. It is an agricultural centre where the cultivation of coffee occupies an important place. The cooperative started operating in 1967. The members of the cooperative have accumulated extensive knowledge and experience in producing and selling coffee, thanks to the support of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia and the Departmental Committee of Coffee Growers of Caldas. The cooperative operates in the municipalities of Anserma, Risaralda, San José, Belalcázar and Viterbo. Its main purpose is the sale of coffee and other agricultural products, while it also strives to promote and improve the economic, social, technical and cultural conditions of the members. The cooperative has 2,083 associated coffee growers who cultivate coffee of excellent quality with dedication and passion. In addition to coffee they also grow crops like sugarcane and bananas. With Luis Miguel' arrival as a general manager, the cooperative has sought to incorporate recent technological advances in the processing and to embrace the shift towards specialty coffee production. Temperature-controlled areas have been built in the warehouse for processing the microlots that the producers deliver. The experiments with producing naturally processed lots have also started in a manner that does not pose risks for the producers.
Luis Miguel has invested in a Nuna Coffee drying box, which allows for controlling the temperature and the humidity when drying coffee. These boxes were pioneered in Colombia in an attempt to combat the challenge of the ever-changing weather in the Colombian Andes.
For this project, the cooperative management has chosen a few local producers whose harvests are known for their quality. A sorting station has also been set up to pick the ripest cherries. This particular lot is called Siracusa: it was named after a mountain close to the Cooperative.

Description and pictures from the roasters at Gardelli Specialty Coffee, Italy