Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in the north of South America, with territories in North America. Colombia is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea, the northwest by Panama, the south by Ecuador and Peru, the east by Venezuela, the southeast by Brazil, and the west by the Pacific Ocean.
Our current coffee is Colombia Organic Tolima ASOPEP Planadas 2019.
Asociación de Productores Ecológicos de Planadas (ASOPEP) was established by 167 coffee-producing families. The founding farmers saw an opportunity in joining their workforce as one solid entity. Their three main objectives: commercialize all of their coffee production directly, establish an independent structure that is administrated by producers and design a sustainably-productive model to ensure profitability and natural diversity for future generations.
To understand the start and consolidation of ASOPEP, it is vital to identify the context of where it all started. Planadas is a rural municipality located in Tolima department. Founded in the 1930’s, Tolima was the victim of numerous armed conflicts that began in the 1960’s. Since the Peace Accord was signed in 2016, several NGO’s have focused their attention on helping Tolima regain its productivity.
ASOPEP was originated by a group of entrepreneurial families who saw the specialty coffee world as a life-changing opportunity. Their exceptional agro-climatic conditions and a well-trained team, allowed them to pursue an ambitious project focused on producing the highest quality coffees. Being 160 miles from the nearest cities and having to traverse crumbling roadways has not stopped ASOPEP from building a truly unique community-based project.
The Association has put special attention in differentiating their cup profiles through different post-harvest processes such as natural, honey, anaerobic, carbonic maceration, etc. Recently, several young producers became the first in Planadas to obtain their Q-Grade certification, a tremendous advantage that has allowed the organization to take their quality standards to the next level.
Grown in the Planadas, Tolima region at an altitude between 1,400 – 2,100 meters ASL, this coffee has a bright acidity and caramel sweetness combine with sweet cherry and citrus in this lively, medium-bodied coffee.
Cupping score of 86.