Grupo de Caicedo – Caicedo – Antioquia – Colombia

Farm: Cooperative of various smallholders around the town of Caicedo

Altitude: 1900 – 2000 MASL

Varietal: Caturra, Colombia and a small amount of Typica

Process: Washed and dried in covered patios

Notes: Wildflower honey, dried fruit, golden raisin, dried apple, Bosc Pear

100% Arabica

Grupo de Caicedo is a custom regional blend made up of a handful of producers in the region of Caicedo, Antioquia. Working in concert with Coffee Shrub’s sourcing partners in Medellin, they are helping build out a microlot project centered around one of the local associations in Caicedo town. This part of Western Antioquia is home to several highland communities, situated in the mountainous hillsides of the Cordilleras de los Andes. Caicedo town itself rests at a high altitude of 1800 meters, and many of the producer members of the association have coffee planted 1900+ meters above sea level. The way these programs work is, the cooperative allows them use of their lab facilities where we are able to roast and cup samples being delivered by the various farmer members. They then separate out all coffee that meets a minimum quality target, and of those coffees, separate into final quality tiers each with an associated premium attached that goes to the farmer. Last season, farmers were paid over 2x the going rate that they would receive had they sold their coffee to the cooperative. All of their coffee has a home though, and those that do not meet quality target, are then bought and sold by the association. This is a fully washed coffee, usually handled on home-processing machinery, fermented in tanks, and dried in covered drying rooms. That last part is imperative as being so close to the rainforest of Chocó, this area sees a lot of wet weather. This coffee is a blend of cultivars, mostly Caturra and Variedad Colombia, as well as Typica and Tabi mixed in.

Photos and Text courtesy of Sweet Marias