Description:

Caldas is one of Colombia’s principal coffee growing Departments. Along with neighboring Risaralda and Quindío, it forms part of the “coffee axis” or “coffee triangle,” indicating the important coffee activities—from research to social support programs to freeze drying to dry milling—that take place in the area, which is in turn part of the Coffee Cultural Landscape, recognized by UNESCO as a World Coffee Cultural Heritage site.

La Chiquita coffee farm is located in Chinchina, Caldas, Colombia. La Chiquita farm in Caldas, Colombia produces Tabi coffee. This lot was processed as Mandarin Natural Barrel Aged. La Chiquita means “The Petite” or “The Little One” in Spanish. The farm is only two hectares planted with the Tabi variety.

This lot was picked in September and fermented in cherry along with freshly picked dehydrated mandarin from neighboring farms that adds outstanding natural mandarin flavor. The coffee and mandarin fermented for 110 hours in sealed 20 liter plastic tanks with CO2 release valves. The cherries then dried for 20 days on raised beds in small batches with precise temperature and humidity control throughout the drying stage. As soon the moisture of the cherries hit 11%, they were placed for almost two months into oak barrels previously used for premium Colombian rum storage to stabilize flavors and gain intensity with elegant hints of liquor. Coffee was stored for another 15-20 days in GrainPro bags before being hulled and packed for export.