STORY

Santuario Farm led by a famous producer [World Famous Farm]

Colombia's leading specialty farm

Santuario Farm has been famous since the beginning of specialty coffee.

This farm was one of the first in Colombia to adapt to the high quality of specialty coffee, and from the beginning they were cultivating Typica and Bourbon varieties at an altitude of over 2,000 meters, and were very ambitious in their efforts.

As a result, it has now firmly established itself as one of Colombia's leading specialty coffee farms.

This farm was already known for its coffee used by Australian representative Matthew Perger, who won runner-up at the WBC (World Barista Championship) held in Melbourne, Australia in 2013, but now it has become even more famous. In the WBC, he chose the orthodox Bourbon (washed).
 
<Mr. Camilo Melizalde, the farm owner. He is known in the coffee industry as a producer of innovative projects.

The person who leads this farm is Camilo Melizalde. Mr. Camilo designed the coffee shop from scratch in 1999, aiming to revive the Colombian mild coffee of the good old days, and to do so under completely sustainable conditions.

A blessed environment and sustainable initiatives

 
The Popayan Plateau in Colombia's central mountainous region is a region with large temperature differences, good rainfall and good soil, making it ideal for growing high-quality coffee. Santuario Farm is located on a hilly area at an altitude of 1,850-2,100m, with a site area of ​​260ha, of which approximately 188ha is cultivated for coffee.

The farm is surrounded by a rich forest and is home to a variety of wild animals. In order to protect this environment, we have created a sustainable farm through environmental initiatives such as soil conservation and biodiversity protection.

Aiming to create the ``supreme Colombian mild,'' Mr. Camilo has created an extremely high-quality work manual for everything from sowing to harvesting and selection of seedlings. The farm is divided into small plots, and work is carefully recorded and managed. The shade trees are planted with leguminous plants, and the only fertilization management is the administration of organic fertilizer. Additionally, due to the high altitude, there are no pest problems, and pesticides are not sprayed.

However, due to the harsh environment at high altitudes, there are some years when the crop is not good, but even in such a situation, Mr. Camilo, the producer, always pursues quality, and his efforts are worthy of being called a seeker.

Joint projects in producing countries around the world

<Santuario Project Mexico Process Center. A limited liability company has been established for this project, and a processing facility in Mexico is conducting research and verification of a new process.
 
Currently, Mr. Camilo is working on the Santuario Project, which aims to spread the knowledge gained at this farm to various regions and produce high-quality coffee.He is applying Colombia's cold-coffee technology to Brazil, Costa Rica, and other countries. It is provided without any restrictions. Partners include Brazil's Luis Paulo (Santuario Sul Farm, Irmas Pereira Farm, etc.) and Costa Rica's Tres Milagros Farm.

Additionally, in Mexico, we have built a ``Coffee Innovation Center'' in Belarux state that will carry out high-quality production and processing suitable for promoting the Santuario Project. Only fully ripened coffee cherries are collected from local coffee farms, and the flavors created using innovative processing techniques are shipped as ``Santuario Project Mexico.'' In Mexico, our partners include Guadalupe Farm and Chamful Farm.

They have also launched joint projects with farms around the world, such as Gesha Village Farm in Ethiopia, so you may occasionally see specialty coffee with the Santuario Project name on it in Japan.

What does Santuario Farm coffee taste like?

 
Some readers may be curious about the taste of Santuario Farm's coffee.

At CROWD ROASTER , we handle yellow Bourbon and gold washed coffee from Santuario Farm, and you can request roasting from our roasters.

Gold Washed is made by soaking the harvested cherries in water for one hour and then pulping them in a sealed tank for 96 hours. Santuario Farm's unique process involves soaking coffee cherry pulp in juice for 72 hours and then drying it on an African bed.

The result is a very unique coffee with a citrus and spicy aroma, and it's a coffee that only Camilo could create.

Here are some comments about this coffee from a professional roaster who has actually handled this coffee.
 

Tastes that can only be made at this farm

<Firstly, a comment from Suzuki Kiyokazu roaster (GLITCH COFFEE & ROASTERS) who roasted at CROWD ROASTER >

The coffee beans from Santuario Farm's project are all unique and have flavors that can only be created through this project.

GLITCH also carries three types of Santuario from Brazil, Colombia, and Costa Rica, and among these, the Colombian coffee beans are the most unique. It has a strong aftertaste and a citric, lime-like taste. It's a pretty rare coffee, so I decided to try roasting it with CROWD ROASTER .

I think typical citrus flavors like orange and lemon are relatively easy to extract from top-of-top coffee beans.

However, this yellow Bourbon tastes like lime, shiso leaves, and Japanese pepper. It's a coffee that has that unusual spicy flavor mixed with a citric flavor.

A well-balanced taste without sharp acidity can only be achieved through this careful selection method, so I want to bring out a flavor that is a complex mixture of these characteristics.

In fact, it is a popular coffee bean that many roasters even roast at CROWD ROASTER .

However, the flavor that can be created with glitch is aimed at such complexity. Coffee beans have different flavors depending on the roaster, so I hope people can enjoy the same beans with coffee from different roasters.
 

Coffee with both refreshingness and texture

<The following comment is from roaster Mikami Hitomi ( Roast Design Coffee )>

This time's Gold Wash is a coffee produced using a special anaerobic fermentation method using the yellow Bourbon variety, which is prized in Brazil.
 
When you bite into the fruit of the yellow variety, it has a watermelon-like sweetness, and compared to the red variety, it is less pungent and has a higher sweetness and texture. This is a rare and quite interesting initiative to be introduced in Colombia. Probably on my first try.
 
By adding coffee cherry must juice to this yellow Bourbon variety and anaerobically fermenting it under low pH, it has a vivid flavor similar to lime and nutmeg.
 
At Roast Design Coffee we tried a roast design that takes advantage of the refreshing lime peel-like aroma of this coffee while also allowing you to feel just the right amount of refreshing acidity. Surprisingly, it has a strong sweetness and body, so we adjusted the taste balance so as not to interfere with the freshness.
 
The resulting RDC Santuario Gold Wash has been transformed into a smooth coffee with a moist texture, while having the freshness of lime and nutmeg.
 
If you are interested in Santuario Farm's coffee, please send a roasting request to the roaster using the CROWD ROASTER app. The brand labeled "YBB" is coffee from Santuario Farm.
 

CROWD ROASTER Editorial Department