Don’t be thrown off by the fact this farm’s name is also the capital of Argentina — this coffee comes to you from the Huila department of Colombia.

Coffee from Huila is among the most interesting to come out of Colombia. The incredibly varied geography and microclimates leads to diverse and complex flavours even between farms in the same region.

Colombia is also unusual in the coffee world for having two alternating harvest seasons each year: the main harvest and a smaller mitaca harvest. Within this pattern the geography can mean farms 100km apart may be in completely different harvest patterns.

UK cafe and roaster Workshop have written about visiting Huila last year.

The farmer

Alberto (or Beto) Narvaez is a producer from Bruselas in Huila, working with a cooperative in Bruselas called Andino (Andes).

Beto has been working on with coffee since he was a teenager, when he finished school he went onto picking and working on other peoples farms. He saved his money and was later able to buy his own lot.

Beto also grows guavas, bananas and passionfruit on the farm, which is shaded by Guamo and Jacaranda trees.

Castillo

You’ll notice a different varietal included in the crop from this farm: Castillo. This is a more disease-resistant and higher-producing coffee plant created as a hybrid of Caturra and Timor Hybrid varietals, but which remains similar enough to Caturra to have a the same flavour profile.

All the images and information about this coffee and its producers have been kindly shared by the importer, Caravela, and edited by us, Sample Coffee (unless linked to or credited otherwise).

Resting beans inside the sealed bag helps develop peak flavours and acidity

Learn how long and why you should wait in our brewing window recommendations.

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Our recipes are easy to follow and designed to bring the best out of our coffee. Find your favourite method on our brew guides collection or test a new one—and if you have any questions, ask us anytime at [email protected].