Welcome to the table. Today we’re cupping the Colombia La Claudina, from BLKMRKT in Traverse City, Michigan. Feel free to pull up a chair.
Juan Saldarriaga is a producer who has two farms—La Claudina and El Encanto. They are about 60 hectares each, but only 42 planted with coffee in total. The rest is still forest and natural reserve. He’s also working with friends and are managing the production for some surrounding producers with Caturra and other cultivars up to 2000 masl. Many of them are young small farmers that are eager to proof that Antioquia have more than chocolaty and heavy bodied coffees. As for now we are experimenting a lot together to figure out what works for us and our market.
Juan recently took over his families two farms. He is experimenting with different cultivars in different altitudes, and many of them are recently planted. He is also doing experimental drying and different processes for naturals etc. We met a few years ago, and what really encouraged us to work with him was the will to change, adapt and improve to meet the future demand on qualities. Antioquia is known for solid, but maybe slightly boring coffees, but there is a lot going on right now, and we think these coffees are proof of that.
The biggest challenge in these environments is the drying due to humidity and temperature. After we met Juan and started to talk about drying under shade, he immediately constructed drying facilities with raised bed under cover. He has also installed a machine that can dry with cold air and with a software where you can adjust temperature, airflow etc, and make profiles on different coffees.*
THEDETAILS
region: Antioquia, Colombia
farm: Hacienda La Claudina
producer: Juan Saldarriaga
association: N/A
elevation: 1400 – 1800 meters above sea level
varietal: Caturra
process: fully washed, patio dried
CUPPINGNOTES
The aroma of the Colombia La Claudina is full and rich, with tons of depth. It’s fruit-forward, with scents of mixed berries, bolstered by brown sugar and cola.
This is a moderately full-bodied coffee, due in large part to being a slightly darker roast. It has a silky mouthfeel with a mellow, rounded citric acidity.
*content courtesy of Cropster Hub
UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL PRODUCTS REVIEWED ARE UNSOLICITED SUBMISSIONS FROM THE PRODUCT MANUFACTURER.
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Andrew is a husband, father, dog lover, craft beverage enthusiast, content creator, and niche market Internet celebrity. Formerly of A Table in the Corner of the Cafe and The Pulitzer Project and contributor to Barista Magazine and Mental Floss, he’s been writing on the Internet for years.