Explorer Series: Huila, Colombia
Huila, Colombia
Luminous Mountain
In the Indigenous Páez language, the word “Huila” translates to “luminous mountain”, speaking to the diverse topographical landscape and natural beauty throughout the region. Huila is one of the 32 administrative departments of Colombia, located in the Southwest of the country and lying largely within the Magdalena River Valley. The southern portion of the department lies within the Colombian Massif, a group of peaks in the Andes mountain range that includes several snow-capped volcanoes. The river valley attracts tropical air masses from the Caribbean Sea to the north, and this combination of climate and rich volcanic soil makes for an area prime for agriculture. In areas of high elevation, these factors create unique microclimates that are particularly ideal for coffee.
Coffees from Huila are both distinct and diverse in flavor due to these unique and ideal conditions, and a robust network of 67,000 coffee-growing families and 191 growers associations means that quality coffee from the region is plentiful. Farms in the area are typically small, family-owned estates that average around 1.5 hectares in size, and farmers primarily produce washed process coffees, utilizing fermentation periods of up to 36 hours before natural sun drying.
The Monserrate Community
and "Lo Mejor de Monserrate"
The Monserrate village, nestled in La Plata, Huila, is a tight-knit farming community renowned for its meticulous craft and environmental care. They cultivate Caturra, Castillo, Colombia, Bourbon, and Typica coffee varietals, harvesting twice annually, from May to June and again in October to November. Prioritizing collective excellence, individual lots are combined for export, doubling down on the importance of everyone's commitment to top-tier processing. Their dedication shines through in coffees known for vibrant acidity, rich sweetness, and delicate floral notes - a testament to their pride in quality craftsmanship.
Atlas Coffee Importers' founder, Craig Holt, first visited the Monserrate community in 2005 as a volunteer, working with local farmers on assessing the quality of their coffees and their position within the specialty market. Noticing the potential for exceptional quality, Atlas contracted its first coffees from the area the following year, and soon after began organizing a yearly micro-lot competition for the community in 2008. Through local assistance from Racafé’s team, the event allows producers to have their lots cupped and scored independently of the rest of the community, highlighting and rewarding the efforts of its most motivated members. It also provides an opportunity to establish long-term direct relationships with coffee roasters, who continue to grow more willing to pay higher prices for high-quality, small-lot, traceable coffees from ambitious producers. Each year has continued to bring higher premiums, elevated cup scores, and more participants eager for the opportunity to stand out and build a strong name for the Monserrate community.
Racafé & Atlas Coffee Importers
Coffee Quality, Exporting, and Importing
Racafé has deep roots in Colombia, having been founded in 1953 and steadily growing as a leader in quality, innovation, and sustainability initiatives in the region. As an exporter, they play an integral role in the on-the-ground work necessary to build and maintain relationships with producers, including analyzing samples, managing the logistics of coffee collection and transportation, and tracking market fluctuations that affect their local coffee economy. Racafé’s field team, led by Ivan Dario Sanchez, works closely with leadership figures throughout growing areas in Huila and acts as an essential source of producer and farm knowledge for Atlas and other importing partners. Perhaps most importantly, they take great strides to maintain coffee quality as it is transported from remote growing areas to the port, where it is then shipped to importers around the world.
Founded in Seattle in 1998, Atlas Coffee Importers has grown into a globally recognized and respected name in the specialty coffee industry. In line with Coava’s driving ethos, Atlas focuses on quality above all else, not only as it applies to coffee, but also to relationships, environmental sustainability and advocacy, and business practices. As an importing partner, Atlas acts as the vital link that connects the two ends of the supply chain - producing and consuming. Importers oversee the logistics of coffee’s passage from port to port, and provide essential financing to producers upon their coffee’s delivery to exporters. They also manage connections with exporters and producers at various origins, and maintain an inventory of coffee that allows roasters the opportunity to purchase coffees on a one-time basis (called spot purchasing) or on a contracted, often continuous basis.
Without like-minded partners like Racafé and Atlas, Coava would not be able to work with the exceptional coffees that we have the pleasure of roasting, brewing, and enjoying year after year. It is an honor and privilege to be able to showcase the coffees in this set, and the future coffees to come from their work with the Monserrate community.
The Monserrate Development Fund
Improving Cup & Community
In an effort to further support their network of producer partners, The Monserrate Development Fund began in 2018 through the collective effort of Atlas, Racafé, and NGO Solidaridad. Through the program, roasters can contribute $0.05/lb. on top of the typical premium to contribute to community development projects and disaster recovery efforts. In the last several years, this has included:
- Wastewater treatment - Completed in early 2019, the fund’s first project included upgrading the water treatment and compost pits on 23 farms, and installing new septic tanks on 5 farms. The water treatment system in question is a simple, low-cost, passive, and environmentally friendly system that utilizes gravity and multiple stages of sedimentation collection and anaerobic digestion. This style of treatment forgoes electricity and expensive machinery, and is particularly helpful for small-scale coffee producers in rural areas with limited infrastructure.
- Drying infrastructure - Completed in early 2022, this second project allowed 40 producers to renovate existing solar dryers or build new solar dryers. These drying beds are constructed from locally available sustainable materials and directly led to increased cup scores and lower incidences of defects.
- Flood damage repair - In 2023, much of Huila experienced flooding from extreme rainfall. In Monserrate, landslides destroyed several farms and around 19,000 coffee trees. The fund paid for construction materials, fertilizer, seedlings, and other resources necessary to repair the damage and get farms back up and running.
Producing Partners
Nora, Fanny & Armando
The three producers featured in this set are some of the most experienced and well-regarded farmers in the area and all veterans of the Lo Mejor Monserrate competition. With the help of Racafé, we have also included a recipe card featuring each producer’s favorite dish, drink, and dessert, to offer a further peek into the culture, lives, and joys of the Monserrate community.
Nora Nelly Pillimue
Nora has been a coffee grower for over 19 years and has taken top honors at the Lo Mejor de Monserrate competition four times. She and her husband, Fredy, operate the El Carmen farm, and their daughter attends school in the Monserrate village.
Farm: El Carmen
Lot size: 3 hectares
Altitude: 1800 masl
Varietal(s): Tabi, Castillo, Caturra
Processing: Washed process (de-pulped, fermented 24 hours, washed)
We taste: Panela, Tangerine, & Vanilla
Fanny Ceballos
Fanny has more than 15 years of experience in the coffee industry, and owns and operates the Los Guaduales farm with her husband, Reinel Anaya, and their three children, Duban Felipe, Zully Vanessa, and Ingrid Tatiana. They make a point to retain husked coffee cherries for the creation of compost that is used to fertilize their fields throughout the year.
Farm size: 2.5 hectares
Altitude: 1815 masl
Varietal(s): Castillo, F6
Processing: Washed process (de-pulped, fermented 36 hours, washed 2x)
We taste: Pear, Guava, & Roasted Almond
Armando Andrade Quintero
Armando Andrade grew up in a coffee-growing family, and now runs the Villa Rosa farm with his wife, Rosa Maria Gil, and their two children, Luisa Fernanda and Andres Camilo. They have achieved recognition at the Lo Mejor de Monserrate and other coffee competitions around the country.
Farm size: 2 hectares
Altitude: 1825 masl
Varietal(s): Castillo, Tabi
Processing: Washed process (de-pulped, fermented 24 hours, washed 4x)
We taste: Cherry pie, Honeydew, & Nougat
