Photos from Colombia and the Las Mingas Award Ceremony

In September of 2008, I traveled to Colombia in order to congratulate the coffee growers involved in the Las Mingas program.

Photos by Colleen Anunu, Gimme! Coffee

The growers of the top scoring lots of the program were given added attention. Our microlot producer is Leonardo Bados (bottom right)

Leonardo owns the farm El Progreso in the beautiful La Union region of Nariño. El Progreso is home to 4,000 caturra trees and is located 1,850 meters above sea level. Leonardo has been farming this land for 7 years.

He sports an Armani hat. Class. His coffee was the best single lot that we tasted and approved in our 2008 Las Mingas program. In Colombia, a panel of judges placed this coffee 6th overall in the entire program!

In the department of Nariño, our 2008 blend comes mainly from the smaller regions of Taminango, Arboleda, and La Union.

Before traveling to these regions, it was explained to me by viable source that the descent from the central Cordillera mountains into Nariño might be the most beautiful panorama in the entire world.

Of course, when you are 1,600 ft. above sea level on the cordillera central, you really don't want to be the one to chase the ball down the hill. Hence, the only shot I took... was with this camera

Mercedes Bolanos and her family show me their finca in Nariño. Some of her coffee was added to our Las Mingas blend.

Virmax Cafe co-founder, Alejandro Cadena, explains to farmers in the breakdown of approved and rejected samples of 2008’s Las Mingas Program. The number to the right, 4398, represents the total number of lots that were submitted to the Program. The 441 to the left represents the total number of lots that were approved in the program by the various roasters who had participated. Those 441 lots represent only 0.025% of annual Colombian coffee production.

In Nariño, Alejandro explains the importance of air circulation in the drying process. This producer insulated and sealed his drying area, thinking it would increase heat and therefore dry faster. Alejandro explained that the increase in humidity would only decrease overall quality.

When it is stored in the warehouse for grading prior to export, coffee rests in its protective layer called parchment. Once the coffee is ready for export, this parchment coffee is milled and what we are left with is the green bean to the right. The green bean is what your coffee looks like before it is roasted.

This wet mill is where coffee cherries are processed. The cherries feed through the depulper, the seeds fall into the water filled fermentation tank. The fruit is then discarded into the compost pile behind the depulper.

The bags of parchment are ready to be milled. On this day, these workers will load two trucks with over 300 bags each. Virmax trains there warehouse workers in their best warehousing practices, and retains them through the off season by offering health insurance year round.

Just outside of busy streets of Popayan is an organic silk cooperative. The cooperative is run by women, but dependent on these little guys.