COLOMBIA

FINCA LA PERLA DEL OTUN
LUIS ALBERTO JOJOA

TASTING NOTES - STRAWBERRY, COCOA NIB, FLORAL VIOLET

DEPARTMENT - HUILA
ALTITUDE - 1,800 m.a.s.l
FERMENTATION TIME - 24 hrs. CHERRY, 96 hrs. TANK
MUNICIPALITY - PITALITO CHARGUAYACO
VARIETIES - TABI
DRYING TIME - 20 DAYS

Luis Alberto Jojoa will never forget how he started his coffee journey as a picker. During our last visit to his finca La Perla de Otún, he told us about the many years he
worked on his now neighbor Antonio Castro’s farm, and how he eventually worked up the courage to ask his boss if he would maybe sell him a plot of land, so that he
could start growing and harvesting his own coffee. Antonio agreed but unfortunately, Luis Alberto did yet have enough money, so he offered his job to pay for it. Five
years of hard work later, Don Luis became the proud owner of La Perla del Otún in 1994. "I earned it with the sweat off my brow and honest work", he says. He named
his farm `the pearl’ because of the absolute beauty that surrounds it.
Luis Alberto carries out the harvest on his five-hectare farm with the help of his wife, Floridalid, their sons and a few local pickers. They carefully hand-select only the
ripest cherries. Unlike most traditional Colombian coffee producers, who typically de-pulp their coffees and let them ferment overnight for 12 to 18 hours, Luis
harvests on Mondays, de-pulps the coffee at night and leaves it in the fermentation tanks. Rather than washing it on Tuesday morning, he de-pulps on Tuesday
afternoon and adds any new beans that have been harvested that day to the pile of coffee that's been fermenting since Monday. He thoroughly mixes the two days'
coffees together and waits until Wednesday morning to wash the whole lot before taking it out to dry on raised parabolic beds.

Luis is an exceptional producer. In 2006, he won 1st place in the Colombian cup of excellence; a prize that allowed him to buy additional hectarage to increase his
productions. Luis’s progressive approach to specialty coffee extends beyond the farm. He also attends the local SENA agricultural university to increase his knowledge
about high-quality production.

Luis Alberto Jojoa is one of the pioneering producing partners in the department of Huila and we are grateful for him and his family’s continued dedication and hard
work