The areas where coffee is grown in Colombia stretch across the Andean Mountains for more than 750 miles.  The varying geographical and climatic features of the Orinoco River basin, the Amazon Jungle, the Pacific tropical rain forest, and  the Caribbean Sea all influence the vast coffee growing regions.

With such diverse geography and varying cultural traditions among the thousands of small plantations, crop quality, growing, & harvesting practices among coffee farms are somewhat varied.
 
The select high-grown coffees that we at Handy Pantry seek out, the finest available from Colombia, are produced by a small number of dedicated farming families (cafeteros). Their farms, averaging 8 acres or less, are at altitudes of 5000 to 6500 ft above sea level.  They utilize the  rich volcanic soils found along the three mountain ranges that span the country. 
 
These unique cafeteros rely solely on old production practices, using no modern machinery on their farms.  They plant trees to provide shade to their crops, & rely on rain for irrigation.
 
When the coffee berries have ripened to a deep red, they are handpicked by the careful hands of the cafeteros.  It takes about 2000 of these berries to yield 1 pound of coffee! Since berries ripen on the same tree at different rates, the cafeteros laboriously return to the same tree an average of eight times, before all its beans are harvested. The coffee cherries are  then transported from the fields on the backs of mules, as has been done for centuries.

 

 These Select Colombian Coffees are diligently de-pulped, washed and carefully dried by the hard working cafeteros.  Only the seeds of the cherries remain, which are the actual green, unroasted coffee beans.  They are then hand sorted in order to guarantee consistency in the roast.
 
A sample of each individual harvest is then roasted and sampled to assure its quality.
The exceptional attributes of these fine specialty coffees are apparent in both the appearance of the bean, and the taste of the brew. It gives us great pride to have them bear our name

More to come soon...

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