In 2021 we purchased a gesha from Nidia that was an absolute stunner on the cupping table. We didn’t know much about her and her farm so we worked with Azahar to gather information. The following year, we visited Nidia and her beautiful farm in Chachagüi. We discovered that she was also growing Tabi and Caturra which we contracted that week. Since then we have continued to purchase all three varieties from Nidia every - buying her entire harvest every single year.

More from Azahar:

In the department of Nariño, in the municipality of Chachagüí, located in the vereda El Convento, there are two lots planted in coffee. One is named La Pradera (The Meadow) and the other El Manantial (The Spring). Nidia Enríquez is the proud owner of them and alongside her daughter, Milena Salazar, they grow different varieties of coffee. Out of the two lots, El Manantial is the newer one, named as such because it has a fresh water spring and is where this Gesha lot was grown.

Nidia dedicates most of her time teaching philosophy and literature in the department’s capital, Pasto, leaving the coffee-growing tradition in her daughter’s hands. Milena Salazar is well versed in coffee knowledge as she has not only inherited generations worth of wisdom, but also educated herself outside of her family. Milena Salazar and Nidia Enríquez represent part of a new generation of coffee growers that are learning to work with the teachings of the past and their vision set on the future.

This widely sought-after Gesha coffee comes from mere 700 producing trees that sit at a height of 2,000 m.a.s.l. and is hand selected at its peak ripeness. The cherry is firstly bagged, weighted and left to rest for 2 to 3 days. The next step in Nidia Enríquez farm is to put the cherry in tanks with water to allow low density beans and debris to float and be removed. The clean and ripest batch is then de-pulped and placed in tanks to ferment for 24 hours. The cof- fee is then washed and placed in raised beds for a period of 8-10 days.