Colombia Cauca Popayan Area 18 Oxidacion Castillo

Sourcing Detail 

BanExport has the touch for post-harvest strategies and cupping expertise that has brought many talented producers into the specialty coffee fold.  This particular lot is extra special because it comes from Agroparque Las Villas, an ecotourism destination with 25 acres dedicated to coffee cultivation located in the community Punta Larga within the municipality of Popayán, Cauca.  The focus at the farm is to show visitors that coffee stands as a central element that links nature, sustainability, and community.

Processing Detail

Focusing on ecotourism and being a public facing model for sustainable farm management does not leave much time for post-harvest activities.  After the cherries are meticulously picked at its optimum point of ripeness, Agroparque Las Villas turns to BanExport for their post-harvest expertise.  Harvested cherries are transported to the BanExport processing mill called Area 18 in plastic crates on a refrigerated truck to ensure that quality is not compromised.  At the carbon neutral mill, the coffee cherries are floated to sort out damaged and underripe fruit.  The coffee cherries are also sorted with an electronic sorter that provides uniformity in color, shape and size.  Next the coffee is depulped and placed in a sealed bioreactor to control for temperature and levels of oxygen during the 48 hour fermentation process.  Then the coffee parchment is washed and taken to a drying chamber with state-of-the-art environmental controls where the moisture is reduced to 11 percent over a period of 48 hours of continuous drying.

Exporting Details

BanExport also has decades of experience preparing coffee for export.  Their fully integrated process maintains the same detailed approach from harvest to export ensuring every lot has a consistent quality and traceability.