Buena Vista, Gaitania, Tolima, Colombia...

For sometime we've been trying to work out our logistics in able to get our hands on coffees from Astrid Medina, the lovely farmer who owns Finca Buena Vista. In a predominantly male dominated industry, they are far too few women that rise to the top tier of coffee, however Astid is an exception, leading the field in her home country of Colombia.

Her farm, Finca Buenavista is in the hamlet of Gaitania, in the very south of Tolima. With its high altitudes and generous climate, it offers perfect conditions, and it has a long history of coffee production. 

This is a very remote area, and was for a long time not exactly the safest place to access in Colombia. Unfortunately, this region suffered during the conflict with the FARC guerrillas, resulting in failed infrastructure, and international coffee buyers didn’t dare to come here for several years. But that’s in the past, and now the region is experiencing big improvements in infrastructure and Southern Tolima is getting a lot of long over due attention.

Astrid Medina won the Cup of Excellence in Colombia in 2015, and this helped to give the growers in Tolima the reputation and attention they deserve.

Astrid and Raul are very progressive and open-minded, always wanting to improve their coffee. They keep the farm in perfect condition, and are constantly experimenting and implementing new ideas to improve their processing methods.

During the production process, the coffee is picked, processed and dried on the farm before it is delivered as dry parchment to the Cooperative’s purchasing point. Cherries are handpicked, washed and fermented overnight for approx. 12-16 hours. During the washing, floaters and damaged cherries are separated. 

Drying in Tolima is done on small patios or in ventilated parabolic dryers to cover it from the rain. Astrid Medina has an impeccible set-up for drying, in well ventilated and covered drying beds, which generally results in a clean tasting coffee. 

After the coffee is dried, it is delivered to Cafisur Coop’s bodega in Planadas, where the first QC takes place. Cafisur is a cooperative that has 5 main areas for purchasing, all in very remote places in the southern parts of Tolima.

We appreciate the hard work and dedication that Astrid puts into her coffee, and it certainly shows on the cupping table. Our intention is to make her coffees a staple in our coffee offerings and hope you get to enjoy them each season.