People
After our great experiences with the first and second edition of the Huila Mágico competition in Huila, The Coffee Quest took the initiative to organise another competition, so we set up in Antioquia, located in the North-West of Colombia, for the very first time. This region is a wonderful place for coffee and is well recognised for producing specialty coffee – with 94 out 125 municipalities growing coffee.
One of the objectives of this competition was to show to all our clients the strength and determination of our producers from this area, which is usually less known than the others, and we, The Coffee Quest, wanted to share with you the hidden pearls of Antioquia.
“The coffee profiles that can be found in Antioquia are truly special, this is due to the mountains, rivers and streams that provide unique conditions to the coffee fruit. But, what is really magical are its producers.” – Sergio Villada, cupper at The Coffee Quest Colombia
Twenty ambitious producers participated in the very first edition of the competition hosted by The Coffee Quest in this region. Despite challenging weather conditions, including excessive rainfall resulting in damaged roads, our participants went above and beyond to overcome logistical barriers to deliver their amazing coffees to our teams at the collection centres.
Thanks to the incredible efforts of The Coffee Quest Colombia Team and our producers, the top 10 coffee lots arrived safe and sound at The Coffee Quest headquarters in the Netherlands, the United States, and Colombia, where each Team contributed to the final ranking after quality analysis and several cuppings with our qualified team across the globe.
The Coffee Quest collaborated with the producers in the context of the competition and on a personal level. We found some of the best coffees in the region and also built relationships with the producers, who shared wonderful stories of their coffee journeys with us – a beautiful and touching experience.
Product
- CL22039 - Finca La Falda - Rubiel Alberto Higuita Manco, 1st place
- CL22040 - Finca La Guada - Cirilo Antonio Serna Arango, 8th place
- CL22041 - Finca El Roble – Albeiro de Jes´s Ramírez Aguirre, 3rd place
- CL22042 - Finca Buenavista – Ana María Arboleda Montoya, 5th place
- CL22043 - Doña Carmen – Carmen Montoya, 7th place
- CL22044 - Finca El Porvenir – Gloria Sepulveda, 9th place
- CL22045 - Finca El Pincel – Yenser Uran, 4th place
- CL22046 - Finca La Yalena – Elkin Dario Diosa Montoya, 2nd place
- CL22047 - Finca La Aguada - Jhoimer Alberto Higuita, 6th place
- CL22048 - Finca La Falda-Manco – Luis Alberto Manco, 10th place
These excellent lots, some of which originate in Caicedo and Urrao (well-known regions for exceptional specialty coffee production), were brought to our regional stations in Giraldo for a first-quality filtering process. Our team in Rionegro selected the 10 best coffees and sent them to 10 tasters in our TCQ headquarters in US and Europe for the final ranking.
“I believe that the quality of a coffee begins with the producer and his family, who are behind the process, they not only see it as a product but as a tradition, for which they work with love and commitment.” – Rubiel Alberto Higuita Manco (1st place)
Overall, the ten best-ranked coffees we found in Antioquia were majoritively sweet with a variety of sweet, spicy, nutty, and fruity notes that enlightened our taste buds.
- #01 – Rubiel Alberto Higuita Manco, Finca La Falda
- #02 – Elkin Dario Diosa Montoya, Finca La Yalena
- #03 – Albeiro de Jes´s Ramírez Aguirre, Finca El Roble
- #04 – Yenser Uran, Finca El Pincel
- #05 – Ana María Arboleda Montoya, Finca Buenavista
- #06 – Jhoimer Alberto Higuita, Finca La Aguada
- #07 – Carmen Montoya, Doña Carmen
- #08 – Cirilo Antonio Serna Arango, Finca La Guagua
- #09 – Gloria Sepulveda, Finca El Porvenir
- #10 Luis Alberto Manco, Finca La Falda-Manco
Price
The Coffee Quest is thankful for all our enthusiastic participants. Their resourcefulness in participating in the competition despite the challenging weather conditions is commendable – and do not forget: all coffees scored above 85 points!
To enter the competition, each coffee must meet our quality requirements: only 85+ accepted. As the coffee is already meeting our regular requirements, we paid the farmer the fair price whether he would have won or not.
Planet
The perfect conditions the environment of Antioquia provides allow a wonderful harvest, producing high-quality coffee beans for our clients, it is therefore important that the producers who participate in our competition cherish the beauty of their environment.
Most of the farmers are conscious of their impact, they take care of their waste management and manage their residual waste consciously so as to avoid any contamination with water, just like us at The Coffee Quest, the farmers value the planet and the maintenance of the astonishing landscape of Antioquia.
Discover other stories from Colombia ...
Wilfredo Ule Vargas from Finca Alcatraz – No escape from Cascara
Finca Alcatraz produces the tastiest pulped cherry called “cascara”, also known as coffee cherry tea. So no coffee, but a by-product treated with the same dedication!
Exótico de Giraldo – Supporting the community in Antioquia
Exotico de Giraldo is our group lot from Antioquia. High altitudes and very dense beans for a rich cup profile. For several years, The Coffee Quest has been supporting the community of Giraldo thanks to our local presence and impact projects.
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