Colombia Caicedo Rubén Darío Gómez

Don Ruben's farm is our sole coffee from Caicedo/Urrao growing region in this last group of arrivals. His farm is situated above the town of El Noque, perched high up on the towering ridge, stretching all the up to 2100 meters above sea level. Don Ruben grew up farming coffee for others, picking coffee wherever the harvest was underway. Over time, he saved up enough money to buy his own small farm in his hometown of Caicedo, where he and his wife Luz Eleny are producing coffee. Their story is one of persistence paying off, where despite the warnings of those around him - their farm is too high and won't be productive, the cultivars are not disease resistant, etc - they manage to consistently produce some of the highest scoring coffees from the farmer group we buy from! Their farm is 2 hectares in size (about the average for most Caicedo farmers) and is planted in Caturra and Bourbon cultivars. His small wet mill is set up with a motorized depulper and small washing channel for rinsing the coffee with clean water to remove all of the fruit mucilage after fermentation. High altitude means cold climate, and the coffee generally is fermented for a full 48 hours after depulping.