Colombia | Finca La Palma y El Tucán

 Cundinamarca

Finca La Palma y El Tucán is located in Colombia's Cundinamarca region, on the eastern range of the Colombian Andes. Though it is only about an hour and a half from Bogota, it features a range of micro-climates that allow for great biodiversity and unique ecosystems, with ideal conditions for specialty coffee growing.

Neighbors & Crops

In 2013 our friends Carlos, Elisa and Felipe, founders of La Palma y El Tucán, developed a plan to work with their neighbors to create a sustainable relationship model. They named the program Neighbors & Crops and have identified more than 200 coffee producers within a 10-kilometer radius to take part. La Palma y El Tucán buys the coffee cherries from these neighbors, provides training for exceptional harvesting, and experiments with different processing methods in search of the perfect cup.

The plan was to select and train specific pickers in high quality coffee harvesting methods. They would then work with the neighbors to select, pick, and buy the cherry. These families are paid 50% more than the national average for their coffee cherry, as well as given additional coffee trees grown at the La Palma y El Tucán nursery.

The farm also specializes in state-of-the-art and experimental milling, processing the coffee cherry very carefully, documenting each step, and cupping each lot after it’s been dried on raised beds. The goal is to produce the highest quality lots for exportation to select roasters around the world.

Estate & Varietals

Now the exciting part of this new farm is that they’ve planted many different varieties of coffee that will be harvesting in the next couple of years. When Maritza and I toured the farm, they showed us Gesha, SL28, Bourbon, Caturra, and several other varieties that they have planted at excellent altitudes and unique micro-climates.

For more on La Palma y El Tucán, read Jeff Taylor's blog post.

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