We’re returning to Colombia for this delivery, with another coffee from the Nariño department. It’s a relatively new region to specialty coffee, having slowly become more accessible as the war between the Colombian government and FARC guerrillas has eased.
It’s now easier for farmers and cooperatives transport their crops out of the area for export, and for specialty coffee buyers to travel to the area to meet with farmers.
We’re enjoying crops from four farmers through the Cooperativa De Cafes Especiales De Nariño: from Laureano Gómez’s farm La Loma, Rodrigo Martinez’s Asignar, Edilberto Gomez Muñoz’s Lomas Redondas, and finally Omar Gomez Muños’s farm Dinamarca.
Reflecting the importance of the coffee harvest to the country, Colombia spends more on coffee research than any other country, which is why you might’ve noticed the varietal called Variedad Colombia in this harvest.
Researchers developed it by crossing Caturra (which produces larger crops but is more susceptible to disease) with another coffee plant, Timor Hybrid. It was created as Colombian farmers watched La Roya (coffee rust disease) sweep through Brasil, and was released in 1982, barely a year before the coffee rust reached Colombia.
The third varietal in the harvest, Castillo—a further hybrid of Variedad Colombia—is now the most planted coffee tree in the country.
