Colombia
Finca Santuario
Camilo Merizalde

Washed process Red Typica

Flavour: rose hip, nectarine, vanilla

Body: Acidity:

Finca Santuario began 22 years ago, when Camilo Merizalde had the desire of creating a very unique farm capable of producing the best specialty coffees in Colombia. Rather than focus on quantity, Camilo decided to focus on quality as a driver of profitability.

He quickly realised that biological diversity was paramount in creating an environment capable of producing excellent cup quality with long term sustainability.

As such Finca Santuario is set out in such a way as to encourage a vast swathe of plant and animal diversity working symbiotically with the coffee plants. This is particularly important as the vast majority of varieties grown at Santuario are extremely high quality but lower yield, more fragile and more demanding than most varieties widely grown in Colombia.

The harmonious interplay between the surrounding environment, volcanic soil and variety allows for the creation of some of the most spectacular coffees available from Colombia.

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

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Our packaging

Producer: Camilo Merizalde
Country: Colombia
Region: Cauca
Altitude: 1850-2050m above sea level
Variety: Red Typica
Process: washed
Importer: Condesa Co.Lab
Body: Medium
Acidity: Medium
Tasting notes: Rose hip, nectarine, vanilla
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

The location

Coffee from Colombia

Colombia is one of the largest coffee producers in the world and benefits greatly from having one of the most unique and complex set of micro-climates of all coffee producing nations.

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.