The Farm
Marceli Calderon and her husband, Victor, live in Salado Blanco, Huila, Colombia with their two children. They purchased their coffee lot eight years ago and spent half of their time commuting back and forth from the farm to town in order to work enough to pay off their debt; Marceli was a secretary, Victor a taxi driver. Coffee gained the family’s full attention after Victor was forced to leave his job and in the years since, the farm, La Loma, has grown exponentially.
The Calderons began production with Gesha and Caturra trees but switched to the varietal Papayo after learning it was better suited for the environment, producing higher yields and cup quality. Papayo is a newly rediscovered varietal that’s growing in popularity; it’s found mostly in Huila, Colombia and produces large, oblong cherries that resemble papayas. These Papayo beans are a washed processed. Once picked, the cherries are fermented for 24 hours, depulped, and fermented again for 48 - 72 hours, depending on weather conditions and temperature. After this they are washed and left to dry under an awning on the roof.
