El Encanto
COLOMBIA
Just returned from his European studies, the young Juan Saldarriaga took over the management of family farms and immediately dived into work by planting locally non-traditional varietals at different altitudes and putting huge efforts into improving coffee processing, especially drying. Our featured coffee from El Encanto is a blend of Colombia and Castillo varietals, which was processed by the dry method after 48 hours of fermentation.
El Encanto is one of two plantations of the Saldarriaga family in Antioquia, Colombia. On the farm, located near the city of Bolivar, at an altitude of 1380-1800 metres above sea level, they grow varietals such as Colombia, Castillo, Tabi, SL 28, Maragogype, Gesha, Bourbon or Caturra Chiroso. Just returned from his European studies, the young Juan Saldarriaga took over the management of family farms and immediately dived into work by planting locally non-traditional varietals at different altitudes and putting huge efforts into improving coffee processing, especially drying. Both farms harvest only once a year, typically from September to January. After harvesting, the plants are completely stripped down, thus losing some of the total crop quantity but on the same hand raising the quality of the next harvest. Natural-processed lots such as this one are dried in an environment of 25-30°C for about a month, a process preceded by meticulous sorting.