Maracay, Quindio, Colombia

About

This coffee was grown by Luz Helena Salazar at the farm Maracay. This coffee was carefully hand-picked in order to select only the ripest cherries and then hand sorted to remove any defects. The coffee was sundried on raised beds in temperature controlled conditions until the ideal moisture content is achieved. This microlot is 100% Caturra. This variety originated in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is a natural mutation of Red Bourbon. Caturra produces more coffee and is more resistant to plant diseases than Bourbon.

The Crop

Luz Helena grew up in Armenia and has been producing coffee for the last 20 years. She owns Maracay, an 8-hectare farm located at 1450 m.a.s.l, in Armenia Quindio.

Luz’s passion for coffee was inspired by her husband’s work on coffee farms and as a dry mill manager. Luz would hear Jairo talking about coffee and wanted to be more involved in the industry. With the support of Jairo, Luz started learning how to care for coffee plants and what steps she needed to take to produce high-quality, ripe cherries. Luz found dealing with insects very challenging at the start and would draw on Jairo’s knowledge to help with this.

For several years now, her focus has been on producing Specialty Coffee. Luz has been able to improve farm practices and focus on producing the best cherries she can. Once ripe, the cherries are then processed processing station, La Pradera.

When Luz is not tenting to her coffee trees, she enjoys spending time with her friends and being part of local support groups for vulnerable people.