"Microlot" is a trending term in the coffee industry. But what exactly qualifies as microlot coffee?
Think of a vineyard where most grapes produce good wine, but one small area yields exceptional grapes. These grapes have superior flavor, aroma, and complexity. The vintner gives these vines extra care and attention, and when it's time to harvest, the grapes are processed separately to create a premium wine.
Microlot coffee follows the same principle. It comes from a small plot, usually yielding about 40 bags annually. These beans have unique qualities (85+ cupping score) and receive special care to enhance their distinctiveness. Microlots are harvested from specific plots at particular altitudes and processed separately from the rest of the farm's coffee to highlight their unique traits.
A microlot isn't just a small batch of coffee or larger lots divided into smaller bags. It involves careful cultivation and experimental efforts by growers and buyers to produce coffee with special characteristics. Without this meticulous approach, "microlot" becomes just a marketing term. As specialty coffee becomes more mainstream, accurate education on terms and grading is essential.
OUR PROCESS
Every single process is of vital importance in the search for perpetual improvements. Our agricultural coffee project began just as that. Planting the trees and hoping for an economical return with the harvest. First, we saw the need to improve in so many areas from the people to the crops. Then, we implemented technology to control and improve our field decision making tasks as efficient and accurate as we could.
The harvest is a joyful event. A constant competition between coffee harvesters to see who can pick more kilos. On a good day, one skilled person can pick around 500kg earning the equivalent of one week’s pay. Then, it’s our job to make sure only mature red cherries are picked because the green cherries will bake instead of roast, giving the coffee a stale bread aftertaste. Every coffee arabica variety matures differently in color, brix and weather conditions so we are constantly analyzing and experimenting, learning from our mistakes and building on our successes.
We sincerely believe the milling and drying process has changed for the best. New technology allows us to use a fraction of the water needed before to mill and wash the beans, and beyond that, the wastewater is reused as natural fertilizer with great benefits for the crop closing the loop on our recycling process. The cherries’ skin is also used to fertilize other crops such as banana and plantain. Additionally, we experiment with a process known as “honey drying” where the coffee is milled but not washed leaving the beans to dry with their fruit to produce an amazing fruity flavor and aroma that the world is going wild for.
The dying is also an amazing process to nail down. The % humidity is of great importance for the final roasting process. If the % is to low, the coffee will roast too quickly and burn, if it is too high it will bake. There is a “goldilock“ zone where we experiment and find the right spot - again, it depends on the variety, season and desired outcome.
The roasting process is part art and part science, and to be honest, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We are fans of medium roast but we have huge fans of our medium high roast and then some crazy fellas love our dark roast. We tailor the coffee to our customers’ needs - and this tailoring begins with step one - plants plus people. We have the material, the knowledge and the skills to make some great coffee.
How do you like your coffee?
ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
We currently have a forest sanctuary that runs across our farm. We preserve all kinds of wildlife from a small breed of armadillos to amazing birds and foxes. We use drones to protect these areas and design our fields so we have no impact on these areas. We also use state of the art technology and the latest in investigation to do as little as possible to interfere with nature’s natural course. We strive to be organic soon and of course all our crops are Non GMO, an aspect that is also in the process of certification.
We believe in protecting our rich water source, our wildlife biodiversity and in educating our children to value and protect our own paradise - as we all should.
OUR COMMUNITY
We are located in the Pueblo of Sevilla, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. A beautiful town with an amazing view, but its real pride and real treasure is its people. Founded by immigrants coming from the Antioquias, searching for a place to call home, who settled at the top of a mountain, strategically located to see any enemies coming as well as for its climate, water resources and fertile soil. They prospered for many many years producing great musicians, artists, merchants and politicians, but then when crime and violence rose, the pueblo suffered immensely as their main resource fled to larger cities. Many years have passed and once again many are returning to their roots and to their dreams. We are happy and honored to be part of this epic comeback.
Besides our coffee project and the employment opportunities we provide, we also encourage complementary and indirect revenues for the wives and elders of the community. For example Liliana, wife of our main leader, along with her mother feed the workers 3 times a day providing extra income to their families. Her father Carlos, has a red Jeep Willys WW2 era, so we hired him to transport coffee from the fields to the milling plant and in the mornings we also employ him to be the “school bus” for the community children.
The school’s land was donated by our family a long time ago and we are constantly supplying sports supplies and reading materials to improve their daily activities. We also organize health brigades of doctors to spend a day tending dental and health checkups. Additionally, we’re working on providing internet to activate computers so we can stream live english classes, and interact with other cultures - like the ones who enjoy the coffee their parents so proudly produce.
We truly believe that globalization works both ways. We want you to know how we do our job and we want to know from you that our hard work matters.
