We had the good fortune of meeting young and confident Jorge Urbano in 2023 in Colombia at the export facility we use, where he was performing quality work for his former employer while we were preparing an export of our own. This chance meeting has led not only to us having an opportunity to showcase Jorge’s coffee, but also, through Jorge we have met many other interesting and motivated coffee producers in Nariño (who you’ll have a chance to meet soon too!)Jorge Urbano and his mother Maria del Carmen Munoz benefited from the government programme ICODER, which supports the acquisition of land for families who do not own land, with the aim of promoting farm work and social unity. During the pandemic, Jorge followed a specialised coffee course at the National School for Coffee Quality in Armenia and became certified in 2022. He subsequently did some internships and then paid work, honing his processing knowledge and cupping skills, and now being able to apply these skills to his own family’s production. This kind of informed processing is rarer than you might imagine, and it took Jorge 1.5 years (after the 3 years for the first harvest) to potentialise the coffee on the farm.The process started with fermentation after depulping only, with hours varying from 24, to 72, and up to 160. 96 was the sweet spot, but even better was a trial of a two stage fermentation, which is what we’ve purchased.. A 72 hour fermentation in cherry is followed by 30-48 hours in a tank. No control equipment is used during fermentation, it is operated for hours and the knowledge of the characteristic smell of the mucilage is used to wash the coffee.