Colombia Tolima

Origin: Colombia

Region: Department of Tolima 

Varietal: Mixed

Processing: Washed

Tasting notes: Milk chocolate, tangerine, caramel, almonds

The Process:

Washed processing involves de-pulping the coffee cherry. A bladed tool is used to cut open the cherries, extract the seeds and discard the empty fruit. The coffee is then soaked in water to soften the seed and typically is left to ferment for 12 to 72 hours. Afterwards the coffee is washed clean of any remaining fruit, mucilage and silverskin before it’s finally dried. Washed coffees are the most common processed coffees you’ll see!

Behind the Producer:

Altitude: 1500-1800 MASL

Farm: Co-op

Why We’re Stoked!

Coffee is vitally important to Colombia’s identity: It is grown in 22 of its 32 departments, and around 540,000 families in the country depend on it for their livelihoods. Tolima is a coffee-producing region with a unique, conflict-ridden past. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) occupied the region until about a decade ago, meaning that no coffee was produced for global consumption for many years. After two peace agreements—the first one led by indigenous groups and farmers, and the second one helped by the Colombian government—coffee growers and their families were able to return to the area and start growing coffee again. Since then, coffee growers in Tolima have worked hard with a focus on quality and innovation, looking for ways to improve the lives of people in the community.

Coffee in Tolima is mainly grown by smallholder producers, including indigenous and Afro-descendant groups. They cultivate varieties like Castillo, Colombia, Typica, Bourbon, and Maracaturra in 38 of Tolima's municipalities. Coffees in this area are recognized for their denomination of origin and their sweet and exotic notes—such as stone fruit and berries—that result from Tolima's mountainous make-up and its various micro-climates.