La Providencia (250 Grams)

This microlot was produced by Julio Soscue Villada and his family on their 4-hectare farm, La Providencia (meaning “the providence” in Spanish), located near the small community of China Alta, in the municipality of Ibagué, in Colombia’s Tolima state.

After working in coffee most of his life, Julio purchased La Providencia some fifteen years ago. After many years selling his coffee to commercial exporters at the local market, he decided to focus on specialty-production by joining Pergamino’s Allied Producer Program, with the goal of producing better quality to access higher premiums for his coffee from the international market. Since joining, Julio has seen the profitability of his crop improve drastically, helping him achieve goals and projects he had laid out for himself when he first established the farm. Julio and his family live at La Providencia, surrounded by the coffee trees he tends to.

Julio mainly grows Caturra at La Providencia, as the variety produces good yields and a high cup quality in the high elevations of China Alta. Julio farms his coffee with traditional techniques and most of the labour is provided by him and his family. Fertilisation occurs around three times a year, usually after manual weeding, and pesticides are rarely used.