Just twenty minutes from Popayán, at 1,850 metres in the hills of Timbío, lies Finca Santa Bárbara, a 14-hectare farm where coffee grows beneath the shade of native trees. The farm is home to several varieties, including Geisha, Pink Bourbon, Wush Wush, Java, Laurina, and Red Striped Bourbon. Alongside coffee, the farm protects its natural surroundings, with native biodiversity, ecological trails, and cabins welcoming visitors to experience the landscape of Cauca.

Farm management follows the needs of the plants and the local climate. The alleys between the coffee rows are regularly trimmed to reduce competition for sunlight, water, and nutrients, while each tree is cleaned before fertilisation to improve nutrient absorption. Annual soil analyses guide fertilisation, complemented by organic compost made from coffee byproducts. The team also practices Re-Re, collecting ripe, overripe, and fallen cherries after harvest to help control pests such as the coffee berry borer.

Harvest runs from May to August, with a smaller mitaca harvest later in the year. Pickers return every two to three weeks, selecting only fully ripe, deep-red cherries. The cherries are then transported in refrigerated trucks to Área 18’s processing facility in Popayán, where they are carefully sorted and analysed before processing.

This lot of Red Striped Bourbon undergoes a controlled washed process. After pulping, the coffee ferments for 48 hours in a stainless-steel bioreactor, where oxygen levels, temperature, acidity, sugar concentration, and pressure are carefully controlled. Naturally occurring yeasts transform sugars in the mucilage into aromatic precursors, enhancing the variety’s floral and fruity character. The coffee is then washed and dried in electric dehydrators before resting in GrainPro-lined fique bags to stabilise moisture.