Tim Wendelboe - Finca Tamana (Caturra & Variedad) Colombia

When Elias Roa bought Finca Tamana in 2011 most of the farm was planted with the two cultivars Caturra and Variedad Colombia. Since then the Caturra trees have been attacked by leaf rust almost every year and the quality and production has therefore been a bit up and down. The variedad Colombia is resistant to leaf rust and has consistently been tasting better compared to the Caturra over the years. That is why we have recommended Elias to replant most of his Caturra trees with either resistant hybrid cultivars or better tasting traditional cultivars like Bourbon and SL28.

There are still some Caturra left on the farm and probably always will be, but since the production is very small and the flavour is very similar to the Variedad Colombia we are normally blending the two based on harvest date and quality. In general the lots we buy from Tamana are mixed like this because separating them in to daily pickings is normally not practical in terms of milling, packing, etc. I still feel that we are able to preserve the uniqueness in these coffees and this lot is an excellent example of the «standard» quality from Tamana.

2021 was another great year for quality with good growing conditions that resulted in an overall high quality of the coffees from Tamana.

In addition to good growing conditions Elias changed the process slightly based on experiments we have done together with Diego Campos.

He is now “fermenting” his coffees in cherry for 16-20 hours prior to de-pulping the coffee. After de-pulping, the coffee continues to ferment  in stainless steel tanks for another 24 hours before the parchment is washed by using a mechanical mucilage remover. Still the coffees are soaked in clean water over night before they get dried under shade. This slight tweak in process has brought out a bit more fruity flavours in the coffee.

A fun fact is that during the whole 2021 harvest, all the coffees were carefully processed by Elias’ son in law, my good friend and also the 2021 world barista champion, Mr. Diego Campos. Diego worked closely with Elias during the whole harvest and as you might expect, he has an extreme attention to details. I think it really showed in the quality and consistency of all the lots we cupped and bought in 2021.