Mahusa – John Hurtado
“The farm belonged to my parents, who took care of it from the beginning, while I decided to go to the United States to experiment and get new opportunities in life and in business as a whole. The coffee went by the wayside. I grew as a person and as an entrepreneur, but 30 years later I decided to return to my home country and take over our farm, which I transformed into what it is today, a farm called Mahusa. The coffee here is exceptional, that was one of the reasons I decided to go back to being a coffee farmer. The uniqueness of the coffee is that it is grown with love and passion, but also because we give a lot of space to the indigenous flora and fauna that contribute to our soil restoration processes and other very important operations of the farm.”
COUNTRY
Colombia
REGION
Caicedonia, Valle
FARM
Mahusa
ALTITUDE
1800 m
SIZE OF THE FARM
56 ha
COFFEE VARIETIES
Wush Wush, Bourbon Rosado, Bourbon Amarillo, Caturra, Castillo, Gesha
ABOUT THE FARM
I grew up on my father’s land with coffee, I saw the processes of farming, I saw his passion in cherry picking, but also his anxiety and despair about prices, which led us to what we call the coffee crisis.
Over time, my father left this world and I took over the farm. I said to myself that we had to change and improve, not only with regular commodity coffees but also with exotic varieties. Crop diversification has been one of my greatest experiences in the coffee growing process, and through it I saw that I could help my pickers, improve my farm and at the same time the farms of neighboring coffee growers.
After many mistakes and successes, I was able to improve my coffee processing. On my farm, which is located at an average altitude of 1,700 meters to 1,900 meters above sea level, there are three water sources and two native forests. Another great and successful moment on our farm was teaching the pickers to talk to, care for and respect the coffee tree. My wife, who loves to garden, learned from her mother that when you talk to plants, they listen.
So that our pickers know why they do the work and respect it, we roast our coffee, drink it every day on the farm and give it to the pickers to take with them. My mission is to continue the family heritage with the coffee I love and plan to die here, in my coffee world.
ABOUT THE PROCESSES
Our coffee process is artisanal and we are very environmentally conscious. We use no water at all in the natural processing and only 1 % water in the honey processing.
Castillo, Caturra, Colombia - washed (LOT CO-23-038)
The washed lot of Caturra, Castilla and Colombia is delicious because of the great care taken from picking to drying. The coffee is first picked perfectly ripe and sweet, then the cherries are loaded into water and the bad beans and impurities are washed out, followed by fermentation for about 24 hours in bags or baskets. This is followed by peeling in a dry mill, cleaning and gradual drying, which takes 15 to 21 days.
Wush Wush - natural (LOT CO-22-050)
It starts with harvesting, which takes into account the state of ripeness of the grains, then the grains are left to float in water to remove impurities, foreign material and those grains that, due to their low density or low weight, could affect the physical or sensory aspect of the cup. Manual sorting is then carried out to remove the grains that are not yet in an optimal state of maturation, after which the already sorted mass is placed in plastic bags or baskets and the fermentation process is started for 90 hours. During this time, parameters such as temperature and Brix level are controlled to produce a homogeneous mass and pleasant characteristics in the cup. After the fermentation period, the drying process begins, which takes place in screens and in direct sunlight for almost four weeks. Finally, samples are taken for physical and sensory analysis to determine the yield and flavor profile.
