We're very lucky to have this special selection of Jeremiah's coffee from the El Carmen de Acevedo association in Huila where we visited in December last year. This is another of our Red Association project coffees from our import partner Raw Material and the El Carmen group were the first members of this project.
Most of the coffees from the association members are combined to create the El Carmen coffees processed as washed and naturals and some then sent for decaffeination. Raw Material's on the ground team selected and separated this particular lot due to its cup quality, a testament to the hard work and care that Jeremiah is putting into his coffees.
This particular Caturron cultivar is new to us. Caturron is a natural mutation of Caturra first identified on another farm in Acevedo. The plants were taller than the majority of the Caturra plants and completely free of leaf rust. They were isolated and shared with other producers in the area including Jeremiah. Lucky for him and for us. We knew this was a special coffee as soon as we cupped the sample. Sparkly and clean with some light tropical notes and a sweet caramel finish.
This is out 5th year of supporting Raw Material and their Red Association projects. In that time they have built new infrastructure, paid individual farmers a minimum price of 1M COP/ carga of dry parchment coffee they produce through a community lot. This price results in over double the household income of a typical coffee producing family, compared with the average income in the regular market over the past 5 years. With the new infrastructure built, payments have been received directly by producers. The goal is to achieve stable and sustainable prices for community coffee lots through improved quality control, shared knowledge, and a connection to the specialty coffee market.
Physically, RM built drying bed facilities and QC infrastructure at the community central hub in the town of El Carmen. Through a new payment system, they provide stable prices that result in 2.5x the average household income, compared to previous seasons. El Carmen provides stable and sustainable prices for producers through a connection to the specialty market, improved quality control, and shared knowledge across the value chain.
(All images courtesy of @Andrea Jimenez)