Variety: Pink Bourbon

Elevation: 1650 MASL

Region: Acevedo Huila

Process: Washed

This is our first-year offering coffee from Luz Divia Fierro and her husband Elpidio. Ian was able to visit Luz’s farm last November and was immediately impressed. After cupping the coffee a couple days prior at Azahar’s Coffee Lab in Armenia, Colombia, the farm visit was confirmation that the quality of the coffee was not a fluke. In fact, this was the second time Ian had cupped coffee from Luz. The first time was earlier in the year from the previous harvest. The coffee also scored high then (the same as that years releases from Gabriel Castaño and Pedro Trujillo). However, we did not purchase the microlot that first time due to volume commitments elsewhere.

However, when Ian visited the farm there were numerous things that stood out that were compelling reasons besides the cup quality that solidified our decision to purchase the coffee. It was clear that Luz and Elpidio had invested in the farm above and beyond the bare minimum. The way they process the coffee is very thoughtful and clean or DIALED as we like to say. There's an amazing biodiversity of cultivated plants and wild life (birds and Ian even saw red howler monkeys in the forest there!!!) on the farm.

On top of all of that, they built this beautiful area on their farm where they house migrant workers; including a dining area where they provide incredible home cooked meals. I’m so grateful to be able to work with Luz and Elpidio who clearly care not only about the quality of their coffee but care deeply about the workers on the farm as well.

Luz Divia Fierro and her husband Elpidio grow coffee at their finca El Meson, located in the vereda of Berlin, in the municipality of Acevedo, Huila. Both Luz and Elpidio have nick- names by which they are known to their nearest and dearest; Luz goes by Sandy and Elpidio goes by Pillo. The couple inherited the farm from Pillo’s father Ángel, who is also a coffee producer, and farms in a neighboring vereda. We spoke with Pillo recently and he explained that him and Sandy work together as a team but they sell their coffee under her name.

Originally from Acevedo, Pillo grew up on another one of his family’s coffee farms, learning everything he could from Don Ángel. Sandy is originally from neighboring Pitalito. The couple moved onto the property where they now live and work a little over three years ago. They built a house and began working the land, planting 20,000 Pink Bourbon trees on pasture that had never been cultivated before, since El Meson used to be a cattle farm. A couple of years later, they planted another 26,000 trees which have been producing for over a year now. Besides coffee, Pillo and Sandy grow plantains, yucca and sugar cane, all of which they use to feed their workers and themselves. They also keep four cows for milk. They have two young daughters—Laura Camila is nine and Salomé is three—and they are expecting their third child, a boy they will name Ángel Martin, after his grandfa- ther.

El Meson’s soil is mostly loam, with a few pockets of sand. There is an area of protected forest reserve on the property, as well as a waterfall. The coffee plantation starts at 1,650 m.a.s.l. and ascends to approximately 1,700 m.a.s.l. The landscape is mostly hilly and steep, with parcels of flatter land. The family employs five workers to carry out non-harvest chores such as weeding and fertilizing, the latter of which they do three times a year with both chemical and organic fertilizers. During the harvest season they employ up to 15 pickers from the departments of Cauca and Tolima, as well as a few locals, to carry out the careful, hand-selection of the Pink Bourbon cherry. The itinerant pickers live at the finca during the harvest months. Pillo, who is 36 years-old, and speaks with a kind, and very Huilense tone of voice, explained that it is very important to him and Sandy that their workers are paid well and feel comfortable during their time living on the farm. They pay the pickers per kilo harvested and they pay the off-season workers a daily wage. After the cherry comes in from the fields, Pillo carries out the post-collection processing himself. The harvest is put into large tanks that are filled with water in order to “float” the coffee and remove any debris or damaged and/or green cherries. The cherry then remains intact for 24 hours. The next day, Pillo de-pulps, and ferments the Pink Bourbon beans for another 38 hours in tanks. He then washes the coffee once and puts it out to dry on his rooftop-style dryer for 19 days. In order to deliver his family’s coffee to Cadefihuila’s Pitalito point of sale and warehouse, he hires transport or sometimes enlists the help of his father.

Luz Divia “Sandy” Fierro and to Elpidio “Pillo” Carrillo represent a younger generation of coffee growers from southern Huila, who are dedicated to producing high-quality coffee and committed to honoring the important legacy of their parents and grandparents, and for this we feel very fortunate to be able to work with them. We are excited to see what this year’s harvest brings to El Meson.