Finca La Palma Gesha, Colombia | FILTER

Café de Santa Barbara is a family-owned company dedicated to the production and export of Colombian estate coffee. The family’s beginnings in the coffee business date from the early 20th century when Don Alejandro Angel (great grandfather to the current generation) became the first major exporter of Colombian coffee. Foreseeing the enormous potential for the Colombian crop, in the times when our country’s coffee did not have the reputation that it holds now, he sought to convince the European and American traders that the distinctive qualities of our Arabica coffee made it worthy of recognition and admiration by the coffee roasters of the world. He succeeded beyond his contemporaries’ imagination, opened new markets, and became the largest Colombian coffee exporter of his time.

This legacy greatly inspired Pedro Echavarria (husband to one of Don Alejandro’s great granddaughters) who ventured into growing coffee three decades ago. Mr. Echavarría understood that the most important step was choosing the region where to grow his coffee. After much deliberation he ended up deciding for Santa Barbara, a small county encroached into the Andean mountains in the state of Antioquia. Other than its picturesque charm, Santa Barbara offered a land with distinctive and crucial qualities, such as microclimates (due to the combination of altitude with warm air from the Cauca River valley), singular volcanic soils, perfect altitude, and a tradition of excellence in the production of coffee. Mr. Echavarria started then with a modest amount of land, but throughout the years he has constantly increased production capacity. By marrying these perfect natural conditions with hard work and efficiency, he quickly grew both the area under cultivation and his farms’ reputation. The Echavarria family began to consolidate the various lands he had purchased over the years during the 1980s.

Today, Santa Barbara Estate is composed of 5 sister farms (including La Palma, from where this lot hails) that lie within the Santa Barbara region. The family also owns farms in nearby Fredonia and Amagá. La Palma is the only farm in Santa Barbara Estate that is physically separated from the rest of the Santa Barbara farms. Located at the other side of the valley are Agualinda, Lomaverde and La Camelia, but La Palma is completely independent and has its own mill and drying silos. The farm also has a full dormitory for pickers that can serve around 40 people during harvest.

In the last five years, Pedro’s son – also Pedro – has become more deeply involved in the workings of the farm, taking the already high quality of the coffee to new heights through experimentation in processing and increased monitoring and control of every stage of production. Pedro Jr. and Santa Barbara’s Coffee Director, Leonardo Henao Triana, manage their wet mill with a blend of art, industrial rigor and scientific curiosity. They are committed to further developing the Estate’s capacity for the highest quality coffee possible and have even brought their offerings to Medellin, Colombia through their flagship coffee shop, Pergamino. They are also true innovators. Due to La Palma’s medium size and well-designed wet mill, many of Leo and Pedro’s fermentation experiments are carried out here. As well, the farm boasts several experimental plots of Gesha (such as this lot) and SL28. Perhaps most importantly, in terms of house colours, it’s the family favourite! The Gesha varietal was brought over from a farm in Nariño run by the Lasso family. These seeds originated from Panama, and thanks to the generosity of the Peterson family, were able to be exported to Colombia. Now, the small plot of land at Finca La Palma is successfully producing exceptional quality Gesha. The long-term goal of the Reserve is to make Gesha more accessible to all markets so that more can afford to taste the beautiful varietal.