EXP022: MORE INFORMATION
FINCA LA TERRAZA SL-28 WASHED
This coffee is "low intervention." The term comes from the wine world, where it usually refers to wild fermentation and unconventional flavor profiles. In coffee, we use it to mean the opposite: traditionally washed or sun-dried coffees with nuanced, predictable results that used to define specialty coffee standards. Washed milds, full naturals, passive honey processes...these were once the norm.
It's easy to move on from the previous flavor wave when manipulated fermentations keep making coffee feel new and exciting. But it's also easy to forget how humbling a straight washed coffee can be, how it feels like drinking the genetics of the plant itself, how it makes you want to celebrate nature. Finca La Terraza is a good reminder of that.
The SL-28 cultivar needs little introduction. It's rarely grown in Latin America, but it has been the backbone of Kenya's coffee industry for nearly 100 years and is very well understood in its fully washed form. Juliana and Wbeimar grow a small plot of it at La Terraza, and the latest harvest is tasting exceptional. The cup has hints of Kenya: umami sungold tomato and citric blood orange, alongside fragrant tarragon, basil, roasted pistachio, and sage. The body is dense and syrupy, with bright, tart flavors of peach and pineapple. A remarkable result for a low intervention coffee.
SOUTHERN HUILA
Huila is arguably Colombia's most recognized department for top microlots. Its geographic accessibility, high density of knowledgeable farmers, warm subtropical forests, high elevations, and diverse microclimates have made it one of specialty coffee's most beloved regions for many years. Because much of the department harvests coffee nearly every month of the year, fresh coffee is almost always available.
Huila is a long, narrow valley that follows a winding gap between two large Andean cordilleras. Colombia's 950-mile Magdalena River originates in southern Huila and has shaped agriculture in the region for centuries. Above the valley's lush lower slopes sit a variety of coffee-producing communities, often dramatically steep, each with its own climate and history.
FINCA LA TERRAZA
La Terraza is the farm owned and managed by Juliana Guevara and Wbeimar Lasso, the duo behind the processor group Terra Coffee. The farm is run with real passion (they even have a great educational Instagram account at @Fincalaterraza). Like countless farms in this part of Colombia, it covers just a few hectares and sits in a specific microclimate that encourages coffee trees to fruit almost year-round, requiring constant monitoring and small-batch harvesting.
Wbeimar Lasso is a Colombian Cup Tasters Champion, an agro-industrial engineer, and a third-generation coffee producer with a tinkerer's spirit. He has become well known for coordinating multi-stage fermentation across small farms in Huila, producing some of the most unique and interesting coffees we receive from this region.
La Terraza grows several distinct varieties, including Pacamara, Yellow Colombia, and Gesha. The farm's elevation creates a cool climate with especially cold nights, which slows everything temperature-dependent in coffee production: cherry maturation on the tree, fermentation, and the drying of parchment.
PROCESSING DETAIL
This washed SL-28 microlot was hand-picked by La Terraza's permanent labor force, who Juliana and Wbeimar consider well-calibrated to the ripening patterns of each cultivar. After picking, the coffee was depulped and fermented for 40 to 56 hours in concrete tanks. Once fermentation was complete, the parchment was washed clean and sun-dried on a combination of patios and toldos, a traditional Colombian rooftop awning designed specifically for coffee drying. Drying took between 16 and 24 days per day lot.