COLOMBIA Huila Finca El Descanso

PROCESSING: Fermentation & Washed | SCA Score: 87.25 pts.

Flavor Profile: Silky and smooth, with floral notes of hibiscus and jasmine, strawberry, and caramel.

Luis Antonio Contreras worked alongside his siblings on the family farm owned by his parents. From an early age, he knew that he wanted to become a coffee grower in the future.

A few years later, Luis’s father left the farm to his wife and children, and Luis continued working with his siblings to support the family. When all the siblings reached adulthood, they decided to divide the land and work independently with their own families. At that time, Luis received the land that is now known as El Descanso Farm.

Once Luis had his own plot of land, he began cultivating it. Together with his wife and children, he transformed the property into what is today Finca El Descanso. The family’s hard work and commitment to continuous improvement have helped them steadily develop the farm’s facilities and produce specialty coffees—the work they are most passionate about and to which they dedicate their time and effort.

Today, El Descanso Farm covers 7.5 hectares, of which nearly 3.5 hectares are dedicated to coffee cultivation. The farm grows Castillo, Colombia, Caturra, Pink Bourbon, and Geisha varieties.

The Contreras family is happy to work together and, in addition to turning Finca El Descanso into their livelihood, they have also succeeded in making it their home.

Process

The coffee cherries are received freshly harvested and carefully inspected to ensure the integrity and freshness of the lot. They are sorted manually or mechanically according to ripeness, with only perfectly mature cherries selected, as these will positively influence fermentation and the final flavor profile.

The cherries are then pulped, with the pulp carefully removed while preserving the mucilage, which plays an essential role in flavor development. This is followed by an extended aerobic fermentation lasting between 120 and 143 hours, during which the beans are kept in an oxygen-rich environment and carefully monitored to encourage the development of a complex aromatic profile.

After fermentation, the beans are thoroughly washed with clean water, removing all remaining mucilage and stabilizing the flavors developed during fermentation.

Drying takes place outdoors on raised beds or paved patios, using the natural heat of the sun. This slow drying process helps preserve bean quality and clearly define the coffee’s final characteristics.