Colombia
Cundinamarca
Rodrigo Gutierrez
San Isidro
Tabi
Washed
2020
Caramel, Cherry, Balanced
1800 meters
Organic, Rainforest Alliance
70 kg
SOLD OUT
Rodrigo Gutierrez Andrade owns two farms in the Sumapaz province of Cundinamarca Department, Colombia, just a stone’s throw from Fusagasugá town. Since 2013 both of his farms, San Isidro and Los Guamos, have focused on using best organic practices earning Organic and Rainforest Alliance certification.
Coffee has played an integral role in the area for over a century. Rodrigo’s farms are part of what used to be the Hacienda Coburgo, which was owned by the Bonnet-Schroeder family starting in the 19th century. The family worked with other farms to raise the status of coffee production in the region, giving it prominence in the region’s economy as coffee cultivation developed. Rodrigo became one of the land’s new owners in the 1980’s. His family brought their passion for coffee from their home in Antioquia to Fusagasugá and focused on preserving the local approach to coffee production, which includes organic and regenerative farming practices. Today, thanks to a group of producers around the Sumapaz region, the area has attracted the attention of organic coffee consumers from around the world.
Cenicafé’s Research & Development work on coffee quality and disease resistance in the region had a major impact on the varieties planted at San Isidro. Castillo accounts for 18,500 trees on the farm, while the additional Colombia, Tabi, and the relatively new Cenicafe 1 coffees comprise a total of 30,000 shade grown trees spread over 5 hectares.
80% of the coffee at the farm is picked and processed between May and July, with the remaining 20% being harvested during the fly crop period in October and November.
Processing practices stay in line with the organic and regenerative farming practices of the farm, beginning with washing all harvested cherries in treated water to make sure no toxins contaminate the crop. Then, cherries are moved to stainless steel tanks equipped with a density sorting system, where they are dry fermented for 24 hours as whole cherries before being sorted and pulped. The dry fermentation process is repeated for another 24 hours before all of the mucilage is removed. The coffee is then dried on raised beds for 18–20 days. Along with its processing facility, San Isidro has storage cells where the coffee is kept at an average of 50% relative humidity and 20° C until it is finally ready to be milled and exported.
Coffee has been integral to the economic development of the Cundinamarca department for more than a century. The area’s coffee is not just a crop; it is part of the social and cultural fabric of the region.
Cundiamarca’s coffee grows on the western slopes of the Eastern Andes range of Colombia. Here, coffee cultivations are notable for their biodiversity, integration into local ecosystems, and the commitment of the department’s coffee producers; these ingredients have contributed to the prevalence of shade coffee in Cundinamarca. Below a layer of native Andean flora, shade-grown coffee demonstrates the regional philosophy of conservation and environmental sustainability.
Cundianmarca’s coffee farms are planted across more than 43,000 hectares, 70% of which are sown beneath other tree species. The department surrounds the country’s capital city of Bogota, with its more than 10 million inhabitants in the city and sprawling metro area. Even though Cundinamarca’s farms are in such proximity to the country’s urban hub, they offer the contrast of aggressively preserving Colombia’s naturally diverse ecosystems.
