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Colombia Tolima Finca San pedro

Finca San Pedro, Tolima, Colombia

Country: Colombia  

Region: Tolima  

Altitude: 1,860M 

Processing Method: Washed Process

Grade: SUPREMO

Variety: Gesha

01 | Region Introduction

Colombia is the world’s third-largest coffee exporter, primarily producing Arabica coffee, and is the country that exports the most Arabica beans. Colombia is rich in natural resources, with coffee, flowers, gold, and emeralds being hailed as its “four treasures.”

Located in the northwest of South America, Colombia borders Panama in Central America. From an aerial view, its western edge looks as if scratched by a cat; three vertical claw marks stretch from north to south. The country’s renowned coffee-growing regions are scattered among the Andes Mountains, which boast fertile volcanic soil.

| Tolima

Tolima borders Huila and Cauca. Here, the north-south-oriented Andes Mountains (M. Andes) and Cordillera Mountains (M. Cordillera) run vertically, with the Magdalena River (R. Magdalena) flowing north to south between these two major mountain ranges.

The name Tolima originates from the earliest inhabitants of the region, the “Pijao people.” In their ancient language (Pijao word), Tolima means “snow-covered.”

Farms in Tolima are generally slightly larger than those in other southern Colombian regions, averaging about 10–15 hectares. Cooperatives are also popular here, with farmers delivering small batches of freshly picked coffee cherries to cooperative processing facilities. Some farmers opt for self-processing, using small-scale equipment capable of handling their daily harvest.

| Finca San Pedro

Finca San Pedro is located in the village of Vereda La Marimba, where most of the region’s top-tier coffee is grown. His son Alberto is a community leader who collaborates with many neighboring families to improve coffee quality across the region.

The processing methods at Finca San Pedro are exemplary. A shallow trough is used to remove unripe cherries, while another is dedicated to fermenting coffee cherries. The cherries ferment for 20–24 hours, followed by 5–7 rounds of washing and drying on brand-new parabolic beds.

For them, the new drying beds represent a significant upgrade—their original beds were only 12 square meters, leaving insufficient space to dry all the coffee evenly during peak harvest season. Now, with a new 47-square-meter bed, all the beans can be slowly and thoroughly dried.

02 | Coffee Variety

Gesha

Gesha is pronounced similarly to the Japanese word for geisha, hence it is sometimes nicknamed “geisha coffee.” As the trees are taller than typical coffee varieties, they were originally planted in a small area of the estate and used as windbreaks.

The Gesha variety was discovered in 1931 in Ethiopia’s Gesha Forest and later sent to Kenya’s Coffee Research Institute. It was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania in 1936 and to Costa Rica in 1953.

Gesha coffee is highly demanding of its growing environment, requiring high altitudes, cloud cover, fertile soil, and sufficient accumulated temperature. The average altitude is 1625 meters, with an annual average temperature of 16°C to 25°C and an average rainfall of about 3500 mm. This plantation employs semi-shaded cultivation, and the trees are all derived from local unique varieties.

03 | Processing Method

This Colombian Gesha variety coffee is processed using the washed method.

Select coffee cherries—remove pulp—ferment—wash—dry—hull

The selected coffee cherries are fed into a pulper to initially remove the skin and pulp. The beans, still coated with residual pulp and mucilage, are soaked in water for about 24 hours of fermentation. After fermentation, the parchment-covered beans are rinsed in flowing water to remove the pulp and mucilage. The beans are then sun-dried or dried with a machine until their moisture content drops to around 12%. Finally, the parchment layer is removed.

04 | Roast Analysis

This coffee bean is grown at a high altitude with hard beans. To highlight its characteristics and aroma, we chose a light roast, which better brings out the bean’s inherent traits. Medium heat is used for dehydration.

Roaster: Yangjia 800N (batch size: 300g)

The drum temperature reaches 180°C when loading. The air vent is set to 3. After 30 seconds, the heat is adjusted to 150, keeping the air vent unchanged. The turning point occurs at 1’36”, with the drum temperature at 140°C. The heat is then adjusted to 130, and the air vent is opened to 4. At this point, the bean surface turns yellow, and the grassy aroma disappears entirely, entering the dehydration phase. When the drum temperature reaches 166°C, the heat is reduced to 110, with no change to the air vent.

At 7’50”, the bean surface shows unsightly wrinkles and black streaks, and the toastiness shifts distinctly to coffee aroma, marking the prelude to first crack. At this stage, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. By 8’20”, first crack begins. Reduce the heat to 50 and the air vent to 5 (adjust the heat very carefully to avoid complete silence). Develop for 1’30” after first crack, then drop the beans at 190°C.

Agtron bean color value: 82 (top image), Agtron crema value: 97.4 (bottom image), Roast Delta: 15.4.