Luis Guzman

Producer info:

In the southwestern side of the department of Huila, on the skirt of the western Cordillera, you'll find the municipality of Guadalupe boarded by the Suaza River. Towards the more mountainous are of Guadalupe, we reach the farm of Luis Carlos Guzman, El Diviso. He greets us and show's us around, through his 5-hectare farm of which 3.6 hectares are producing coffee.

Luis Carlos recollects starting with coffee in 2009 when he planted his first coffee tree at his parent's farm and in 2014, he bought his farm El Diviso. He is a third-generation coffee producer after his father and grandfather, from whom he learned and who through coffee were able to provide for his upbringing. Since buying his own farm he started with the production of specialty coffee and through this path, he has learned more about varieties, processes, fermentation and drying. A turning point was when he entered a local competition from the cooperative, he is a member of and took third place. This reinforced his idea of continuing with specialty coffee and working more on the process. This journey has also brough a better quality of life for his family. As per future projects, he wants to improve his infrastructure: wet mill and drying area.

Variety Info:

Caturra is a natural mutation of the Bourbon variety. It was discovered on a plantation in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil sometime between 1915 and 1918. Caturra has a single-gene mutation that causes the plant to grow smaller (called Dwarf/Compactism). Its name derives from the Guarani word meaning "small."

Process Info

The coffee process starts with the picking of ripe cherries which then undergo an in-cherry fermentation in a tank, and then are pulped without water. After pulping, he sieves the beans to take out defects and the remaining clean beans are fermented for 36 hours. During this time, he stirs the beans to achieve an even fermentation and temperature. Afterwards, he packs the beans in bags and lets them drain for one day to the next before taking the coffee to the drying beds. As per the drying, it takes approximately 20 days in which he moves the beans to achieve an even drying.