Last Wednesday I flew down to Bogotá to judge a small competition put on by some of our favorite people at Atlas Coffee Importers. This entailed waking up at 4am to catch a flight to Neiva, a two hour drive to La Plata, another two hour drive to Monserrate, and a horseback ride into town.
 
The town of Monserrate consists of one long paved road with coffee farms on both side, and a beautiful brick church overlooking it all. We were treated like guests of honor with a huge traditional Huila lunch prepared for our visit. We walked around the town meeting people and then toured a farm. All of the plants were very new growth, and a couple of older trees had some mold damage, but in all it was a beautiful lay-out. One of the things I love about the coffee process in Colombia is that each farmer has his or her own de-pulping and fermentation set-up; this provides more control over the processing and the timing. Additionally, the set-up at Monserrate includes raised drying beds with coverings designed to still allow airflow through the coffee.
 
The next day, after a rough night of sleep due to revelers from the Festival de San Pedro, we got into the cupping lab where we spent most of the following days. We cupped 52 coffees over the next two days, all grown within the town of Monserrate. The profiles of the coffees were pretty similar – all showed the great quality and care they were given during growing and processing. The coolest part of the cuppings for me was really getting to know these coffees and getting to taste the very high quality cup produced in such a small town by really caring farmers. The variations shown by the coffees were amazing. I’ve never taken part in a cupping with coffees produced so closely together, and it really opened my mind to the importance of processing and elevation and their effects on the cup.
 
Sunday, our last day in Hulia, we re-cupped the top ten coffees and presented the farmers with the results and some cool prizes including cash! We also played the annual soccer game against the toughest 12 year olds you’ve ever met. These kids were not messing around, they were running faster and harder then I could handle. I was fully intimidated, even though they kind of only came up to my mid-thigh. It was a fun game and it felt awesome to be reminded of just how bad at sports I’ve gotten.
 
After landing back in the states and getting a drink with a friend I started to gain perspective on my trip. Without the hard work of these farmers and everyone along the chain, I would not be able to do my job and I would never get to taste such amazing coffees. The farmers of the Monserrate co-op work so hard to bring us these amazing coffees and I feel fully honored to be able to have taken part in such a rad experience.
 
-Colleen