Produced by Carlos Arcila. This coffee is harvested following strict ripeness criteria, floated, and hand-sorted to remove any defects. Cherries were then exposed to 30 hours of underwater fermentation before being pulped. The parchment was then gently washed and then dried in temperature-controlled conditions until ideal moisture content was achieved.
Carlos Arcila is a third-generation coffee farmer, he was born in a traditional coffee family from Quindio. Since he was a child, he was part of the family business helping his father around the farm. Carlos own Castellon farm, a 7-hectare farm located at 1450 masl in Armenia, Quindio.
Carlos is a landscape gardener so, when he bought Castellon 32 years ago, he wanted to restore the soil and the historical elements of Castellon. He started planting native trees and flowers and was able to revive the natural spring. He also planted beautiful flowers such as Heliconia, Romelia and native trees such as Guamo, and Nogales among others. Now, Castellon is a stunning coffee farm with gorgeous flowers tracing the footpaths and surrounded by native trees.
In the beginning, he started planting Colombia variety, and he remembers selling his coffee to some cooperatives and the FNC. He learned about coffee farming from a very young age from his father.
This gave him a wealth of knowledge in commercial farming practices and how to generate better incomes this way.
Carlos has seen a change in the demand for Specialty Coffee and has changed his approach as result. With the support of Cofinet and their technical advice, he now has a large Gesha plantation. Here he implements strict farming practices and is able to deliver perfectly ripe cherries to Cofinet for processing. Carlos says that even though agricultural inputs are increasing in price, the additional premiums he is receiving for his high-quality coffees make coffee farming a profitable business.
Outside of coffee, Don Carlos enjoys being at the farm and taking care of his garden. He also loves to host groups of people who are curious about the plants and trees he has planted on his farm.
