About This Coffee

This special natural processed lot is from Azahar Coffee Company and their partner farmers in Gaitania, in Planadas, south Tolima. These farmers, most of whom continue a family tradition of coffee cultivation, are based at elevations up between 1,700 and 2,000masl and grow the varieties of Colombia, Castillo and Caturra.

For this natural process, th cherries are fermented for 38 hours, then dried for eight days on raised African beds under canopy.

The Region

Located 331 kilometers from the capital city of Bogotá, in the southern part of Tolima, Gaitania boasts altitudes that range from 1,400 m.a.s.l at the town center, all the way up to 5,355 m.a.s.l. 50% of the Nevado de Huila, is actually found in Gaitania and as the third tallest mountain in Colombia, surpassed only by the Colón and Bolivar peaks in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, this is a great source of pride as well as of water for the surrounding region. Today, the strength of the regional economy comes from Gaitania’s coffee production, but during the pricing crisis of the 90s, many coffee farmers found themselves planting opium poppy, a crop that brought more hardship to the area. The “fever” for this crop died down after five years and the coffee producers of Gaitania returned to growing their preferred crop. We are happy to support coffee production in the region.