This coffee comes to us from a talented young producer named Damian, and his family farm Buena Vista. We taste chocolate milk, cooked yellow plum, brown sugar, and lemon.
RELATIONSHIPS: Damian is a new member of the Monkaaba group in San Augustin. Semilla connected us with it’s leaders, Esnaider and Didier in 2021 with our purchase of our first coffee from Sonia Bolanos. We are very proud of our relationship with Semilla, and Monkaaba and are commited to supporting producers like Damian for many years to come.
Producer: Damian Bolaños
Farm: Buena Vista
Origin: La Muralla, San Augustin, Huila, Colombia
Varietal: Caturra
Process: Washed
Import Partner: Semilla
PRICING TRANSPARENCY:
Farmgate price: 2,500,000 Colombian Pesos / Carga (125kg parchment coffee)
The National farmgate at purchase: 1,400,000 Colombian Pesos per carga
Semilla’s FOB Price: $3.88USD/lb
Sorellina Paid: $5.65 USD/lb or $8.04 CAD/lb
Sorellina’s Cost: $8.87 USD/lb or$12.62 CAD/lb
Sorellina’s cost per pound includes the following: Shipping, warehouse fees, customs fees, storage, roasting weight loss, roastery utilities, labour, and packaging.
A little about Damian, from our pals at Semilla.
Damian is a new addition to the Monkaaba roster, having joined the group at the end of
2023. A long time family friend of Esnaider Ortega Gomez and Didier Ortega who helm
Monkaaba, circumstances in his life brought them back together in the last year and we’re
happy to see it.
Damian grew up in the township of Kennedy, a small neighborhood on the outskirts of San
Agustin, at the base of the mountain range. While he studied, his parents managed the
family coffee farm, where he would work on weekends and vacations from school. He
recounts “We would leave the house, my parents, my brother Yoiner, and our dogs at 6AM,
packed with bags of food, and arrive at the farm a little before 8AM to begin work. By
5PM, we would begin the walk back, returning home at night.” This was a hard season for
his family, and a life he lived for nearly twenty years.
After finishing high school, Damian began to consider other options to gain economic
self-sufficiency and contribute to the family’s income. He worked first in a supermarket in
San Agustin for a year, but returned with time to the farm, uninspired by the work. Next, he
had the opportunity to begin working for an agrochemical company, selling fertilizers and
other products. This work took him around Huila, where he had the opportunity to visit
many farms where he gained information and knowledge on coffee growing that he was
inspired to apply in his own family farm, which his parents and siblings managed during his
travels.
With his earnings from this work, he invested in the labour and input costs needed for the
farm and bought himself a motorcycle, the only vehicle in his family. As they were still
commuting by foot everyday to the farm from their home in Kennedy, by 2015 the family
decided to move onto the farm in La Muralla. They improvised a small living space and
kitchen, as well as a beneficio to depulp and ferment their coffees as they had previously
done this at neighboring farms. They were convinced that if they got organized and were
dedicated, their situation would improve.
For the first two years while they were building their new infrastructure, the family had no
choice but to sell their coffee en verde which means to depulp it and sell it to local
intermediaries – usually for around 50% of the day’s market price – or to neighbors who
will dry it and sell it under their own name. In 2017, a friend invited him to participate in a
cupping contest and auction called “Best of Huila.” The coffee submitted from their farm
placed in the top 15 of 300 different lots and this experience gave them even more
motivation to work harder to enter the specialty coffee market.
Through this contest as well, he was introduced to a coffee exporter who he began to work
for in a part time support role that taught him new things about coffee and also gave him
the chance to sell his coffee internationally. He worked diligently for this company for a
handful of years until he found himself on the outside looking in, without any explanation
for why and filled with worry for the future of his coffee.
He approached Monkaaba in late 2022 and after various conversations, the team chose
to support him and gave him a role as an apprentice sample roaster in the lab and also
accepted to work with him on continuing to sell his coffee internationally. Damian now also
helps with field support for the small group of farmers working outside Tarqui, helping
them manage post harvest processing and storage of their parchment coffee.
Damian is, in the meantime, diligently working to see the quality of his coffee go up as he
“understands that recognition and real value are gained with action and perseverance.”
He’s been active in the cupping lab, taking the important step to consistently taste his own
coffee as he innovates on his processing with the aim of unlocking the perfect recipe for his
coffee.
We’re happy to be supporting Damian in this next chapter in his young coffee growing
career, and we hope his involvement in the Monkaaba project will offer him the support
he’s been seeking.
