CSR | Colombia Antioquia La Sierrita
Fruity Profile | Light roast
Tasting Notes: Lemon, Strawberry, Vanilla
IT ALL STARTS AT THE COFFEE FARM
Grown high in the mountains in northwestern Colombia, La Sierrita represents the work of 22 producers, including Rubiel Higuita, Joaquin Emilio Higuita, Aristobulo Manco and Luis Alberto Manco, pictured left to right (above) with Stephen from Coffee Quest. Their individual contributions were carefully constructed by Stephen, Sirley and the team at Coffee Quest, with every small lot individually tasted (or "cupped") various times before being included in the main lot.
In prior years, Coffee Quests's cupping lab was down in the town of Medellin, but now they're up in the mountains next to many of the producers they work with. The majority of the producers in their network are in this area of the mountain, so it's a great opportunity to give real-time feedback.
The cuppings are a team effort between this local lab and the main lab in Medellin. This year's harvest lots were first cupped by Sirley, a daughter of one of the producers. Sirley and the team at the local lab do all of the filtering and first tastings, and then the rest of the team tastes them again at the main lab.
After last year's harvest, we were able to sit down with both Stephen and Yessica (who ran the lab before Sirley), and you can check out the interview here! The discussion covers topics ranging from the history of specialty coffee in Antioquia, the work Yessica did to taste all of the coffees that were combined together to make last year's La Sierrita (many of the same ones as this year), to how moisture content in each coffee bean relates to quality.
Yessica and Sirley
Two contributing farmers
Coffee trees growing under shade
View of Giraldo
Coffee being loaded off a chiva bus into the Coffee Quest lab in Medallin
Producer raking coffee seeds as they dry
Producers with Stephen from The Coffee Quest
TRACEABILITY
COUNTRY
Colombia
PRODUCER
Ana Teresa Manco, Antonio Serna, Fernando Cifuentes, Honorio Usuga, Jose Otoniel Higuita, Mauricio Urrego, Rubiel Higuita, Albeiro Manco Lopez, Bernardo Lopez, Jorge Diaz, Luis Alberto Manco, Carlos Andres Fernandez, Jorge Isaiah Manco, Jose Abener Manco, Jose Yesid Campo, Pablo Emilio Zapata, Ruben Salas, Wilson Montoya Rodan, Yoiner Alberto Higuita, Aura Rosa Manco, Luz Magnolia Carvajal, Maria Eugenia Serna
REGION
Antioquia
VARIETAL
Caturra, Colombia, Castillo
PROCESSING
Washed
ALTITUDE
1700 - 2200 meters
IMPORTER
Coffee Quest
DID YOU KNOW
The department of Antioquia is the 2nd largest producer of coffee in Colombia.
PRICE TRANSPARENCY
$5.20
Price paid by Driftaway
$3.62
Fair Trade price per pound
$2.22
Coffee C-Market price per pound
$0.05
Driftaway's World Coffee Research contribution per pound
This coffee travelled 2,353 miles to the Driftaway Coffee roastery in Queens.
Love the coffee? You can share your compliments & tasting observations with the farmers.
WHY DID WE SELECT THIS COFFEE?
Antioquia is the 2nd largest producer of coffee in Colombia, next to Huila, but many would never know that, because it doesn’t have the same fame as other regions such as Huila, Nariño or Cauca.
This is because it’s primarily made up of large-scale farmers who are focused more on volume than on quality. But, there are a few regions within the state where small farmers produce coffees that can easily compete with any other region in Colombia: Giraldo is one of them.
AVERAGE CUPPING SCORE
87
/100
87
SCAA Cupping Score
10 x 70 kg
Bags purchased
2 years
Length of producer relationship
100% (in 2022)
Transparent coffees purchased
HOW DID WE ROAST THIS COFFEE?
This coffee is being roasted by Ian T. from 27th February to 23rd March in Brooklyn. We use the Loring Kestrel roaster for this profile. We have strict guidelines for each of the coffee profiles, and this roast has to pass the development time ratio test as measured in real-time by the roasting software, Cropster. Once it does, it is approved for production.
QUALITY CONTROL
We perform Quality Control via a process of coffee tasting called cupping on all of our production roasts once a week from home as per our Covid-19 shelter in place guidelines. Each cupping is conducted by our roasting staff Kieran D. and Ian T. using standard equipment, and is logged by our Q-certified cupper Ian T. All coffees are evaluated on a scoring scale of 0 to 3.
- 3.0 = exceptional roast - exceeds expectations
- 2.5 = on par with profile - matches expectations
- 2.0 = good roast, but 1 or 2 elements could be improved - needs improvement
- 1.5 or lower = failed - do not ship
PRODUCTION AND SHIPPING
Less than 24 hours after roasting, we bag your coffee in our production facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Our production team is led by Dave and Trae, and supported by a rotating cast of local artists, musicians and independent professionals.
AT YOUR HOME
Brew this coffee with your favorite home brewer and enjoy the taste of incredible coffee! Here are a few tips on how to make the best coffee on each brewer.
View other posts about how to make better coffee at home on our blog Coffeecademy.
