Colombia La Tierra Natural Honey

About This Coffee

Finca La Tierra is our own coffee farm in the Cauca region of Colombia. We have produced this micro-lot by first picking fully ripe berries by hand. After a density sorting, the berries were fermented & dried aerobically for 120 hours on raised drying beds. The fruit peel was then removed and the coffee was fermented anaerobically in plastic bags according to the honey process for a further 140 hours. In this phase, some of the mucilage is retained on the beans, which gives a higher concentration of sugars and organic acids. Finally, the coffee was slowly dried in large ovens at 35 degrees; the even, low temperature contributes to an elegant and complex flavor profile with a clean and clear fruit sweetness. WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE HONEY PROCESS? When oxygen is excluded, the microorganisms – mainly yeast and lactic acid bacteria – switch to anaerobic metabolism. The yeast breaks down the sugars in the mucilage and forms ethanol, esters and other aromatic compounds. At the same time, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) convert sugars and acids into lactic acid, which lowers the pH and gives an acidic, fruity character. Carbon dioxide is collected in the tanks, which creates pressure and further affects the fermentation process. Since oxygen is lacking, the acetic acid bacteria – which otherwise require oxygen – are inhibited and the risk of vinegary or sharp tones is reduced. The sugar in the honey layer contributes to a more intense sweetness, while the anaerobic metabolism adds exotic nuances such as tropical fruits, berries and an elevated fruity sweetness. BACKGROUND TO FINCA LA TIERRA Johan bought – together with his coffee-growing friend Heber Sarria – a rather worn-out farm in early 2017 because it happened to be for sale, the location was good and the size of the farm not too overwhelming. And because Johan had an intense desire to learn how to grow coffee for real. Ever since we bought the farm, we have worked hard to improve the quality of both the farm and the coffee produced. New shade and fruit trees have been planted together with several new coffee varieties. We have started fertilizing organically, built a sorting station and in every way tried to make the cultivation as natural as possible. New drying beds have also been built and the staff has been trained so that both picking and processing of the coffee can be optimized. We have also started working exclusively with micro-lots, so now all the coffee we produce on the farm is divided into smaller batches and processed separately. Most of these batches are either naturally dried or processed with various experimental techniques, especially anaerobic fermentation. Our main harvest from 2025 has just landed in Sweden and these 350 kilos of Tabi were picked in May and June. We are very pleased with our six-year-old Tabi trees, they thrive, are large and robust and produce really distinctive – large and pointed – and juicy red cherries. And they also give a very flavorful and complex cup of coffee. We hope you will enjoy this coffee as much as we have enjoyed producing it. HARVEST TIME AT LA TIERRA Harvest time is the busiest time of the year at La Tierra, and at all other coffee farms in the world. Since we in Colombia do not have a cyclical weather pattern, which means that there is no distinct rainy season (as in, for example, Brazil and Central America), we pick coffee more or less continuously on the farm. The constant alternation between rainy and sunny days means that we always have some form of production going on. The trees normally have flowers, buds, unripe and ripe coffee berries on the same tree at any given time. This is a challenge as the pickers want to pick as much as possible and earn as much money per picking day as possible. But the main production takes place during the Swedish spring (March-June) and then the farm is full of hard-working pickers who are happy to pick good volumes. The rest of the year, the work is shared by Heber and his girlfriend, as well as old friends of the family.