Luis Aníbal Calderón is a 2nd generation coffee farmer and has been working in this field for over 40 years now. But it hasn’t always been plane sailing for Luis.

Back in 2011, Luis was at serious risk of losing his farm to the bank. At that point, he was mainly selling his coffee on the C-market and the price he was receiving was barely enough to cover the cost of production, let alone repay the loan he had taken out to purchase land to extend the size of his coffee farm. It was at this point Luis approached his local town’s Specialty Coffee Association. They were willing to pay 15% above the C-price, not enough to truly reward Luis for the extra effort required to produce specialty grade coffee but enough to sustain Luis and drive him to explore this avenue of the industry further. As a result, in 2012 he planted 5,000 Gesha trees and after waiting an arduous three years for the trees to bear fruit, Luis was converted.

In 2015, Luis decided to embark on the mission to convert his entire farm to exotic coffee varieties. Now, more than five years since that decision, Luis’s farm Finca Villa Betulia is a beacon for specialty coffee production in Acevedo, Huila. On his farms you will find all sorts of exotic varieties including Red Gesha, Tabi, Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, Java, Sidra, Striped Bourbon, Chilli Bourbon, Caturra, Typica, Maragogype, Pacamara, Marageisha, Pink Bourbon, Papayo, Caturron, Liberica, Variedad Colombia, Castillo, Red Leaf, Red Bourbon, Dwarf Gesha, Pink Gesha, Yellow Gesha, Wush Wush, Dwarf Yellow Bourbon, Mokka and Maracaturra.

Luis, along with the assistance of Cofinet, has worked to improve his processing methods for high-end micro-lots. He is now a master in many processing methods such as Extended Fermentation, Honeys and Naturals.

Colombia Huila Villa Betulia Gesha Washed Double Anaerobic

This coffee was grown by Luis Anibal Calderon at the farm Villa Betulia. This coffee was carefully hand-picked to select only the ripest cherries. Later, the cherries were fermented for 40 hours in an anaerobic environment. Then the cherries were pulped, gently washed, and sundried until ideal moisture content was achieved. 

This microlot is 100% Caturron. This varietal is a rare mutation of Caturra was found for the first time in Acevedo, Huila. Growers started planting Caturron due to its resistance to leaf rust and high yield. But it wasn’t until 2016 when Cofinet, with the help of some region growers, identified this varietal’s exotic cup profile.

Beans will ready soon! Stay tuned!