Moderate acidity, marked by just a hint of stone fruit, atop delicious low tones like chocolate malted grains, semi-sweet chocolate bar, and a stout beer note in the aftertaste.
Hacienda La Pradera is a family-run farm on the outskirts of Aratoca town, within the Department of Santander. Unlike some of the small-holder farming regions we buy from, like Inzá, Nariño and Urrao, Santander are known for housing medium-to-large size coffee estates too, like this one. Hector Daza began growing coffee on this land back in the 1970’s, planting mostly coffee disease resistant varieties like Castillo. He has also focused on increasing bio-diversity of plant life at the farm, by interplanting fruit and vegetable crops, and timber, which also provides shade for the coffee.
Hacienda La Pradera holds a few certifications, including Organic, Rainforest Alliance, and Bird Friendly. The coffee is grown between 1700 and 1900 meters above sea level, and is fully washed using a water conserving Penagos mechanical demucilager to remove much of the fruit before an overnight fermentation breaks down the remaining fruit. We found the green showed nice uniformity of color, which translates to even color changes during the roasting. This means judging roast development by sight is a little easier than coffee with lots of silverskin, or mixed ripeness, for example.
Chocolatey smells are pervasive in this coffee from Hacienda La Pradera, and imbue the cup with a layered profile of bittersweet confections in the middle and darker roasts. Lighter roasts produce moderate vibrance that lends a peach/stone fruit-like accent note to the profile, though the flavors are mostly delicious low tones. As I move through the cup, the forward flavors are like chocolate malted grains and semi-sweet chocolate bar, and lead to a stout beer note in the aftertaste.
- Origin: Colombia
- Region: Santander
- Farm: Hacienda La Pradera
- Altitude: 1700-1900m
- Cultivar: Caturra, Catimor, Variedad Colombia, Typica, Tabi
- Processing: Wet Process (Washed)
- Drying: Patio sun-dried
- Certificate: USDA Organic, RFA (Rain Forest Alliance)
- Sourcing: Sweet Maria’s