The town of Buesaco lies high on a ridge in the Andes Mountains of the Nariño department in Colombia. Promotora Cafe de Altura has its offices, cupping lab, and warehouses here, where the coop collects coffees from smallholders whose farms are tucked into the slopes surrounding the town. The cooperative works with more than 300 smallholders farmers all over the Nariño department who generally harvest coffee all year around. Here at the co-op’s facilities, lots are analyzed and purchased, and the farmers are paid premiums on top of the market price. These premiums incentivize high quality standards and good agricultural practices, like avoiding the usage of glyphosate and other chemicals. Promotora Cafe de Altura cups coffees throughout harvest delivery to build lots that are uniform and consistent in bean size and cup profile. This lot of decaffeinated coffee in particular consists of small batches of beans from farms around the Galeras Volcano. This coffee was decaffeinated using the fermentation of sugar cane, and acetic acid Ethyl Acetate (EA) process.
