Colombia Luz Helena Salazar

Of the many farms in the region of Armenia, Colombia, Los Guayabos does not have the highest elevation nor the most ideal terroir for growing high-quality coffee. What it does have is a team of specialists, led by Luz Helena Salazar, who have learned how to coax the best from their coffee trees through years of close attention to the particular needs of the land.

Luz Helena began her coffee journey more than twenty years ago after listening to her husband, Jairo Arcila, as he spoke about his daily challenges as a coffee farmer and dry mill manager.

She felt that the farm had a capacity for something much better than the commercial coffee it was producing at that time, and set herself to overhauling their farm management in order to improve the cup quality and health of the trees. Along the way, she also took a meticulous approach to processing, something that her two sons, Carlos and Felipe, have expanded upon with their own coffee business.

For several years now, her focus has been on producing Specialty Coffee. With the support of Cofinet, Luz has been able to improve farm practices and focus on producing the best cherries she can. Once ripe, the cherries are then processed by Cofinet at their processing station, La Pradera.

When Luz is not tending to her coffee trees, she enjoys spending time with her friends and being part of local support groups for vulnerable people.

Huge thanks to Cofinet, and especially to Luz Helena herself, for being such an inspiring woman.

This microlot is 100% Caturra. This variety originated in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is a natural mutation of Red Bourbon.