El Refugio, Geisha, Colombia | Washed FSC-9576

Villamaría lies in the Chinchiná river basin in central Caldas, with coffee grown on its lower slopes and its upper reaches climbing to the Nevado del Ruiz in Los Nevados National Natural Park. El Refugio, in the vereda of Bajo Castillo, has belonged to the Agudelo Uribe family since August 2020. It began as a project for the family to spend time together, connect with nature and produce specialty coffee. The farm sits on the same range as the Nevado del Ruiz, on volcanic soils, and has 7.5 hectares of coffee between 1,750 and 2,050 metres above sea level, planted with Gesha, Sidra and several Ethiopian varieties. The trees are young. Before the switch to coffee the land was used for livestock and pasture; since then the family has planted native trees to create shade and agroforestry systems that shelter the coffee from strong winds and protect erosion-prone ground. The trees also help fix nitrogen in the soil, and as native species they provide habitat and food for local wildlife, especially regional birds. The main harvest, about 70% of the crop, runs from October to January, with the fly crop of about 30% from March to June. All coffee at El Refugio is fully washed, and the family expects naturals may follow as the trees mature. Processing takes place in an Ecomill, the low-water system developed by Cenicafé, with the pulper sitting directly above the fermentation tank. Cherry is received in the hopper and floated to remove impurities and over- and underripe fruit, then pulped and fermented in its mucilage for 24 hours, less on hotter days. The coffee is washed and moved to parabolic dryers until it reaches 10.5% moisture.