El Silencio | Colombia

Orange, cloves, strawberry 

Process: Natural
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Producer: Robinson Rivera 

Producer Robinson Rivera has been growing coffee for 18 years and part of the ACC group for 5 years. This lot comes from the El Silencio farm, situated at 1700-1850 masl with 6 hectares of coffee growing area producing Castillo only.

This naturally processed lot undergoes tank fermentation for 48 hours before being silo dried at 28 Celsius. Drying is paused at 16 hours and the temperature is raised to 37 degrees until 20% humidity is reached. Finally further fermentation takes place in sealed plastic cans for 24 hours, then parabolic drying is used to achieve 10% humidity.

The ACC coop (Asociación de Caficultores del Centro del Cauca por la Paz) is a non-profit organisation that was created in 2016 in Piendamó, Cauca. The purpose of the association has always been improving the coffee quality, going all the way from the crop until the commercialization of the coffee, where improving these aspects will have a social impact on the region. Improving the wellbeing of the peasant families, taking care of the environment, and trying to find peace in our territory. 

ACC has 77 associates with an average of 1.5 hectares of land that range between 1,700 and 2,100 meters above sea level, where every member that has joined is a believer of the power of associations, where the main goal is to fight against poverty and social conflicts in the region. The association helps members with commercial strategies and crop related technology; although every member has the chance to decide how to process his coffee with innovative fermentations.

The coffee varieties the members grow are castillo, cenicafé, Tabi, Bourbon, caturra and colombia.

Most of the drying is done through parabolic and mechanical silos.

The association has a storage facility (not owned - rented) in Piendamó, right beside the coffee purchase center. In this facility there is a coffee laboratory that has all the equipment needed for coffee selection and cupping - done by a Q-Grader.

Last year 900,000 kg of parchment coffee was bought, where 20,000 kg scored 86 points or higher. The 900,000 kg come from associates and commercial allies from Morales, Cajibío, Totoró and Caldono municipalities.