Producer: Luis Alberto Jojoa
Farm: Finca La Perla Dell Otun
Region: Huila, Colombia
Process: 96 hour fermentation washed
Varietal: Caturra, Castillo
Tastes Like: Jasmine, Peach, Cotton Candy
Luis has grown castillo and caturra varieties at 1650 masl in Huila, in the Pitalito region. He fermented his cherries for 96 hours before washing and drying them for 20 days.
Luis had a very unique journey to owning his farm. He used to work on his neighbour's farm, La Perla de Otun. After a lot of hard work, he eventually worked up the courage to ask Antonio Castro to sell him a bit of the land. Antonio agreed, and Luis worked to pay for it. In 1994, he finally owned his own coffee farm.
Luis now farms the land with his family. His wife, Floridalid, and his sons carefully select the ripest cherries. Most producers we meet these days will ferment the cherries for 24 hours, but Luis is doing something different. He's very scheduled with his production for the optimal fermentation. On Mondays, he harvests the cherries and de-pulps at night. He waits until Tuesday afternoon and adds in any more cherries that were harvested Tuesday morning. He mixes the two days together and keeps fermenting. On Wednesdays and Thursdays he repeats the process with new cherries. On Fridays, all the cherries from the week go to dry on raised parabolic beds.
Luis' care and hard work have helped him win the Cup of Excellence in 2006 and is consistently seeking out new education and protocols to constantly improve.
