El Libano Colombia - Filter Coffee

Running his 9 hectare farm, located near Planadas in Southern Tolima, Javier Rubio Cruz faces challenges from both increasing costs and changes in weather patterns experienced in recent years. Excessive off-season rain patterns have seen production cycles become less defined, with trees flowering and fruiting almost year-round, rather than a concentrated main harvest from April to June, followed by the smaller mitaca harvest in October and November. This less predictable main harvest means labour costs have spiralled as many passes of the trees are required to pick all the ripe cherries.

Facing these challenges, Don Javier is methodic in his approach to maximise his farm’s potential. With 50% of his farm planted with Caturra, he first focuses on harvesting those cherries, to off-set any potential loss brought on by rain. Caturra, whilst being a delicious and high-fruiting variety, is prone to dropping ripe cherries if enough rain falls. The Colombia and Castillo varieties also grown on the farm are not affected in the same way so Javier leaves the fruit to ripen further.

On picking, the coffee is first subject to a 24-hour fermentation in cherry before depulping into tanks for a 36-hour dry fermentation. The coffee is washed in clean water three times to remove the sticky mucilage and then flushed through washing channels that allow the lower quality, less dense beans to be skimmed off. Once washed, the coffee is drained for around 3 hours to remove excess moisture, before moving to the covered and raised drying platforms for around 20 days to bring the moisture content down to 11%. When the parchment is dry, it is bulked together in sacks for 8 days to help homogenise the coffee and increase stability.

Taking such care and attention to his work is evident in the cup quality of El Libano. We’re getting yellow plums and honeycomb in this smooth and delicious coffee. Bravo Don Javier!