Rioblanco is a municipality tucked away in the mountains of the south of the department of Tolima. It is in the skirt of the central cordillera of Colombia with a little bit less than have of its extension belonging to natural reserves. A part of the municipality is in the National Natural Park of Las Hermosas, a place of immense biodiversity and abundance of water sources, with its highest elevation being 4,200 masl. It is the third biggest municipality of the department, very mountainous and luscious with agriculture being one of its major economic activities in which coffee is important. The name of Las Brisas comes from the winds coming down of the mountains to the valley which create special conditions to produce coffee. This municipality has been an area heavily a ected by the internal conflict of Colombia, but coffee and other crops have been important for the people of Rioblanco to move forwards and have better earnings. The potential of this area is great with Caravela being present with its warehouse since 2012 but being there before with a quality analyst visiting the di erent producers.

Contributing Producers

The contributing producers of Las Brisas come from coffee producing families with them being the 2nd or even 3rd generation. They come from traditional ways of coffee practices but through the years either with the advice of the PECA technician, friends or attending workshops they have improved their coffee producing processes and farm management to achieve better qualities. There has been a change regarding varieties, with some having Pink Bourbon, Red Bourbon and Gesha but some still preserve some of their original Typicas. These small-scale coffee producers are passionate about coffee and dedicated to working in agriculture. Though they have been through tough times because of the internal conflict of Colombia, they continue pushing forwards with their head held up high, with a smile and full of friendship towards others. The average size of their farm’s ranges between 3 to 8 Hectares, where most of it is not completely dedicated to coffee. They might have other crops such as plantain, avocado and pasture for cattle. Most of the producers in the area belong to associations or cooperatives, through which they have received aid for social projects such as wastewater management, pulping machines and dryers. This has helped in improving their wet mill and drying stations. The producers who don’t belong to associations or cooperatives, are able to improve certain aspects of their infrastructures with the earnings of selling their products, coffee, and others. During this last five years, the farms have mostly stayed the same in size and some, in the last two years with the spike in prices, have planted more hectares of coffee.

The contributing producers of Las Brisas start the process of the coffee with a careful selection of the ripest cherries. Afterwards, they are pulped, either dry or with water, and the beans are dropped in cement tanks covered with ceramic tiles. Here, they are left to ferment, open air, from 18 to 36 hours. After the time has ended, the coffee is taken to the drying stations which vary from parabolic covered patios, rooftop patios with a retractable roof (Casa Helda) or covered raised beds. Here they are dried for about 8 to 20 days depending on the climate of each and afterwards the coffee is stored in the farm from 8 to 15 days to stabilize. Later they are taken to the Caravela warehouse in Rioblanco where they are weighted, and a physical analysis done by the Quality Analyst to check for screen size, defects, humidity, and water activity. Then, a sample is roasted, and the Quality Analyst does the sensory analysis to determine de quality grade and hence tell the producer. After the coffee is bought, it is sent to Caravela’s dry mill in Armenia where it is going to be milled, packed and transported to the port to be shipped to its final destination.