ASMUCAFE or Asociación de Mujeres Agropecuarias de Uribe, highlight the warmth and strong character of a land as solid as the municipality of El Tambo in Colombia. The origin is produced by a group of women-only coffee growers and land owners. Their objective is to respect the coffee bean as if it were their own family. The care, and the traditions, and methods at the moment of processing the coffee resemble the values that they want to instil in their society: honesty, commitment, respect, solidarity and quality. Their mission as an association is to improve their families’ quality of life through coffee farming, and to contribute positively to their community.

One of the things that makes this coffee special is undoubtedly the reduction of the gender gap that exists in the coffee sector and that women have been experiencing for years. In this case, the coffee supply chain is linked by a complete team of women; the monitoring and supervision of the coffee growing, the control of the harvest, the selection of the beans, the fermentations, and the drying process are all in the hands of women.

In recent times Colombia’s established processing techniques have been complemented with new, more innovative processes. This break from tradition allows producers to give a nod to the types of plants that are adjacent to the coffee crops, through the shade that they produce and the properties that they contribute to the soil. By growing other native plants alongside the coffee trees, it allows producers to us to develop new attributes in the coffee fruit. Along with the experimental attitude to coffee processing and fermentation we, the coffee drinkers are able to enjoy the full spectrum of flavours present in Colombian coffee.

Particularly in the region of El Tambo, there are extensive cultivations of Chontaduro and sugar cane for the production of panela. For this reason, it is essential to develop key flavour notes such as chocolate, which according to the unusual double fermentation process, allows to reach those notes of white grapes thanks to an acidity that plays in your mouth between the malic and tartaric with great character.

During processing, the Castillo (purple cherries) and Colombia (bright red) variety

Fresh cherries are left in the loading hoppers for 14 hours  then they are de-pulped in the afternoons and evenings and left in the more traditional open fermentation tanks for another 10 hours.

Next they go through the usual cycle of repeated washing before being dried in the sun for 8 -12 day.

Country: Colombia

Region : El Tambo, Cauca

Variety: Castillo, Colombia