Colombia La Tierra Natural Honey

Finca La Tierra is our own coffee farm in the Cauca region of Colombia. We produced this micro-lot by first picking fully ripe cherries by hand. After density sorting, the cherries were fermented and dried aerobically for 120 hours on raised drying beds. The fruit skin was then removed and the coffee was fermented anaerobically in plastic bags in the honey process for a further 140 hours. In this phase, some of the mucilage is retained on the beans, resulting in a higher concentration of sugars and organic acids.

Finally, the coffee was slowly dried in large ovens at 35 degrees; the even, low temperature contributes to an elegant and complex flavour profile with a clean and clear fruit sweetness.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING HONEY FERMENTATION?

Because oxygen is excluded, microbes (mainly yeasts and lactic acid bacteria) switch to anaerobic metabolism. Yeasts break down sugars in the mucilage, producing ethanol, esters, and other aromatic compounds. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) convert sugars and acids into lactic acid, lowering the pH and creating a tangy, fruity profile.

Carbon dioxide builds up inside the tanks, pressurizing the system and further influencing fermentation dynamics. The absence of oxygen limits acetic acid bacteria (which need oxygen), reducing the risk of vinegary or overly sharp flavors. The mucilage sugars intensify sweetness, while anaerobic metabolism introduces exotic notes such as tropical fruit, berry notes and and an enhanced sweetness.

THE BACKGROUND TO FINCA LA TIERRA

Our owner Johan, together with his coffee-growing friend Heber Sarria, bought a rather run-down farm in early 2017 because it happened to be for sale, the location was good and the size of the farm was not too overwhelming. And because Johan had an intense desire to learn how to grow coffee for real.

Ever since we bought the farm, we have worked hard to increase the quality of both the farm and the coffee it produces. New shade and fruit trees have been planted together with several new coffee varieties. We have started to fertilize organically, built a variety garden and in every way tried to make the cultivation as natural as we can. New drying beds have been built and the staff has been trained so that both picking and finishing of the coffee will be better. We have also started to work only with micro-lots; so now all of the coffee we produce on the farm is separated into smaller lots and processed separately. Most of these lots are either naturally dried or processed with differenent experimental techniques, especially anarobic fermentation.

Our main harvest from 2025 has just arrived in Sweden, and these 350 kilograms of Tabi were picked in May and June. We are very pleased with our six-year-old Tabi trees; they are thriving, large and robust, and produce truly distinctive – large and pointed – juicy red cherries. They also yield a very flavourful and complex cup of coffee. We hope you will enjoy this coffee as much as we have enjoyed producing it.

COFFEE PICKING TIME AT LA TIERRA

Harvest time is the busiest time of year at La Tierra, and at all other coffee farms around the world. Since we don't have a cyclical weather pattern in Colombia, which means there is no distinct rainy season (as in Brazil and Central America, for example), we harvest coffee more or less continuously on the farm. The constant alternation between rainy and sunny days means that we always have some form of production going on.

The trees normally have flowers, buds, unripe and ripe coffee cherries on the same tree at any given time. This is a challenge because the pickers want to pick as much as possible and earn as much money per picking day as possible. However, the main production takes place during the Swedish spring (March-June), when the farm is full of hard-working pickers who are happy to pick large volumes. During the rest of the year, the work is divided between Heber and his girlfriend, as well as old friends of the family.