This coffee was grown by the 50 members of the Asociación La Victoria, a cooperative located in the foothills of the Nevado del Huila (Huila volcano). The association supports farmers with housing assistance, education, crop improvement, and access to finance. Our partner importer, Coffee Quest, became acquainted with this group through the president of the co-op, Andrés Perdomo.

Santa Maria has been producing high quality coffee for generations, but they’d been closed off from the rest of Colombia for decades because of the presence of guerillas in the region. There are only two narrow, unpaved access roads along very steep cliffs, so it was almost impossible for prospective coffee buyers to reach them. This means that farmers were rarely compensated for the exceptional quality of coffee that they’ve been growing season after season. For us, their work translates to an exceptional syrupy sweetness reminiscent of caramelized sugar and winter spices.