Country: Colombia
Region: Ciudad Bolivar, Antioquia
5° 32' 22.501" N 75° 51' 15.0646" W
Farm: La Luisa
Farmer/Grower: Juan Pablo y Familia Velez
Varieties: Pacamara
Processing: Natural
Altitude: 1800 m.a.s.l.
Humidity: 12.7%
Density: 1.13 g/ml
Harvest Date: March, 2022
Arrival Date: September, 2022
Marks: 003-0685-0062
SCA Cupping Score: 85.63
Finca La Luisa is located in the small town of Bolívar in the Southwest corner of Antioquia. The farm is nested against the picturesque mountain range of the Farallones del Citará. From the farm, a dozen waterfalls can be seen like shimmering veins down the cliff sides.
The pacamara plants at Finca La Luisa are the result of years of collaboration, failure and adaptation. Juan Pablo first received the seeds from a friend in Guatemala back in 2015. This friend was also gifted the seeds from a grower in El Salvador before that. Like most cultivars, the pacamara that was planted at Finca La Luisa took 3 years to produce the first cherries. After much anticipation, the resulting cup was a great disappointment for Juan Pablo and the team. The original planting location was at the bank of a river with cold, muddy soil and an over abundance of shade. After just 3 years there, the entire lot was lost. Don Juan saved some of the seeds from these plants and planted them in another area, higher up with more sun exposure, better soil and a different microclimate than that at the edge of the river. Again, it took 3 more years to produce enough cherries to harvest and the result was completely different! The quality is exceptional with complex flavor notes that we have come to expect from well produced pacamara coffee. After 7 years of effort, this is the first year that this coffee is being offered in the United States!
“Everything starts with a dream, with a seed. In my story the dream is literally a seed. This story begins many, many years ago. Being the fourth generation of coffee producers, I could say that I am not starting from scratch in the sense of the word, but from the point of view of what is happening now with specialty coffees, I am starting from scratch. And I say this because in this business there is nothing written yet. One way or another we are transforming the business. The old problems always exist, they are nothing new. The weather is still a headache. Before it was too. Let's say it's worse now but we have to deal with it. The fluctuation of prices remains the same, productivity, pests... What is new for me, and for many specialty coffee producers, is the tireless search for excellence, for consistency, for finding suitable adaptability for new seeds without giving up. Waiting 3 years to find out if the project for a new plantation meets expectations, not only of mine but also of my clients, of consumers and coffee lovers from many parts of the world. Yes, of the world. These seeds I grow travel thousands of miles and are enjoyed or hated by people far and wide. Processing coffee is not easy either, we play at being alchemists. To look for that unique and perfect flavor that sometimes does not exist. That is in our mind, in our ideal. After perfecting some processes, we find enormous satisfaction knowing that we are doing our job very well when, due to the ease of communication via social networks, a complete stranger writes to us to congratulate us on our work as coffee producers and designers. It is a huge team that is behind all this. I am simply the visible face of a multitude of hands through which these emerald green grains pass.”
-Juan Pablo, when asked to share about his history as a coffee grower and processor.