Señor Eliecer Mendez is the 77 year old owner of Finca Buena Vista, located in the department of Tomila, Colombia. Sr. Mendez has been working in coffee since he was 25, starting out on his father’s farm before taking over several years later. Through decades of hard work and careful farm management, he was able to purchase parcels of land adjacent to him, gradually growing the size of his farm and increasing his productivity. Buena Vista is now a mid-size farm by Colombian standards, growing approximately 4.5 tonnes of green coffee per year.

Sr. Mendez currently runs Finca Buena Vista with his son, who will inherit the farm when he retires. His son was originally reluctant to take over the family business, but has changed his mind since the farm started specializing in higher quality coffee. In particular, the family is excited to try new processing methods such as honeys and naturals in the years to come.

This lot was grown during the main harvest season in Tolima, in the summer and early autumn of this year. In addition to global disruption due to Covid-19, 2020 has been even more unpredictable for Colombian coffee farmers due to currency market shifts between the US Dollar and the Colombian Peso. With a better performing peso and a weaker global demand for microlots and specialty coffees, many farmers sold their whole crop to commercial buyers this year. It was only those importers with exceptionally strong relationships with producers who were able to source these higher quality lots this year.

Coffinet, a trading company owned by brothers Felipe and Carlos, is exactly one of those importers. The two brothers are fourth generation Colombian farmers themselves, who live and work in Colombia and pride themselves on their close relationships with their producer partners. Coffinet specializes in 'microlot' a.k.a extremely high quality coffees, like this one from Sr. Mendez. With an on-the-ground team of 12 full time employees and a hands-on approach to coffee sourcing, the brothers and their employees are on the road constantly, visiting the farms and cooperatives they work with sometimes two or three times a month.

BREWING GUIDE 

With Eliecer's coffee, as with most washed coffees brewed as filter, we’re looking for flavour clarity and crisp acidity. Try starting with a recipe of 60g of ground coffee for every litre of hot water, adjusting for your preferred size. For best results, grind right before brewing and use fresh, filtered water.