My journey as a coffee farmer began in my childhood alongside my parents, Alejandro Noreña and Ligia MarÃn, who owned a farm in the hamlet of La Unión in the Gaitania district. They instilled in me a love and passion for coffee. By the age of 20, I had saved enough to buy my own farm in the Corazón de Gaitania, where I planted Typica and Caturra varieties. At that time, I had little knowledge of specialty coffee, but I was eager to learn.
With the help of the Coffee Committee, I met Vianey Saavedra Pérez, who is now my wife. She taught me more about the value of coffee. At 49, we purchased Finca Los Naranjos, where I began to grow Castillo, Typica, Caturra, and Tabi. I experimented with GrainPro bags and sent samples to the RaÃces Café Association in Neiva, Huila, and Asemprogrope in Planadas to evaluate the cup scores, achieving scores between 86 and 87 points. However, I aspired to reach even higher scores, so I learned about the Geisha varietal, known for its exceptional quality.
In 2018, I planted Geisha and implemented rigorous post-harvest processes, focusing on collection, fermentation, and drying. I realized that fermentation was key to highlighting excellent attributes in the coffee.
My family includes my wife and our adopted daughter, Karol Tatiana Saavedra, who have supported me in gradually transitioning to the world of specialty coffee. I am also grateful to my sisters-in-law and harvesters José Edison Restrepo and Duvier Restrepo, who have been with me for over 15 years.
In the medium term, my vision is to market our Excelso coffee at a good price directly to other countries, reflecting the years of effort I have put into being a coffee farmer. I also aim to sell the coffee from Los Naranjos both in whole bean and ground form under our family brand, Coffee Diamchey, which was established in 2022.
Boxes: |
10 |
Variety: |
Gesha |
Weight: |
529.1 |
Process: |
Washed/Fermented |
Region: |
Tolima |
Rank: |
ADK |