Day 10 | Colombia Gesha Raquel Lasso Finca La Bohemia

This Gesha microlot comes to us from long time producer Raquel Lasso and her farm La Bohemia in Nariño, Colombia. This region’s unique climate conditions and dramatic landscape of peaks and valleys create super sweet coffees famous for being extremely high quality. Warm, humid air collects in the lowlands during the day and creeps gently up the mountainsides at night, allowing coffee to thrive at much higher altitudes than the rest of the country.

Finca La Bohemia has been in the hands of Raquel Lasso and her husband Carlos for almost 30 years. Over that time, they have meticulously planted over 10,000 coffee trees, slowly building up the quality of their soil. Raquel and Carlos work in perfect balance: Carlos is in charge of processing, ensuring each lot is carefully handled. Raquel is responsible for all other innovative projects at the farm. She currently manages a greenhouse to grow vegetables and generate secondary income. This beautiful farm consists of 6 hectares with approximately 20% shade. Due to the altitude, it is often covered in a magical fog.

Raquel Lasso is also the president of Fundación Agraria y Ambiental Para el Desarrollo Sostentible (FUDAM), a 300-member association of organic-certified small holder farmers in La Unión, Nariño who share a vision of sustainable agriculture as well as environmental protection and development. FUDAM's membership believes firmly in the principles of sustainability. When asked recently why the group continues to farm organically despite mounting pressure to rely on chemicals, Raquel explained, “This is just how we live, these are our values and our way of life.”

At Finca La Bohemia, ripe coffee cherries are carefully picked and de-pulped the same day. The coffee is moved to tanks or buckets to dry ferment in the open air for 16–24 hours. After it is washed two to three times before being dried either in small "casa elbas," mechanical dryers, or parabolic dryers. The mechanical drying takes between 25–40 hours, while the other drying methods can take up to 15 days. A “casa elba” is a coffee drying structure, unique to Colombia that has drying beds and a retractable roof that can be moved to protect coffee from the rain or intense sun.