Colombia Henry Muñoz Washed

Farmers

Monica Berdugo

I come from a farming family. I grew up among coffee trees and as a child I would go picking coffee with my grandfather. I would climb bamboo to reach the highest beans on the trees. I spent my whole life on coffee farms.

Now I learn the most from our daily work with coffee, from everyone around me, and most of all when we evaluate and taste each batch of coffee grown.

Henry Muñoz

I worked with my father on a coffee farm all my life, and that's why I wanted to continue doing this work. I gained most of my knowledge from my father during the long time we worked together. Now, with my family, I continue the beautiful craft that my father taught me and left me as a legacy.

We are now focusing on growing premium coffee. Our processing is not scientifically complex, but we put a lot of love, dedication and effort into it. We process the coffee mainly as washed with traditional fermentations to highlight the natural profile of each variety.

Our family coffee farm has a 15-year tradition. I myself got into coffee growing thanks to my father, with whom I worked on the farm as a boy. I fell in love with this profession and continue to do it to this day. Together with my wife Monika, we are constantly trying to improve the farm and learn new things. We want to be a good example for our children and leave them a thriving business.

Our production includes two main varieties of coffee. We process approximately 2000 kg of Pink Bourbon per year, with 40% harvested in the mid-season and 60% during the main harvest. The second variety is Maracaturra with an annual production of approximately 4500 kg, with 35% harvested in the mid-season and 65% during the main harvest. We process both varieties using the traditional washing method, which helps us preserve the typical taste characteristics of our region.

A major change in our approach to coffee farming came when we met Carlos Muñoz of Ricordi Coffee Co. His advice and guidance led us to focus on producing specialty coffees. This transition marked a 180-degree turn in our traditional way of growing coffee. We are grateful for this opportunity and are excited to introduce our exceptional coffee to you today.

Now I am working on new varieties, I enjoy the difference between them and trying to plant new trees. In addition to new varieties, we are interested in soil nutrition and how it affects the quality of coffee. So I would say that our main task is to ensure good nutrition for our coffee plants. Our whole family participates in the harvest. We carefully select the coffee cherries and process them with sensitivity in the family circle.