Neider Criollo / Colombia

Tablon de Belgica is a village in Tarqui, Huila. On the slopes of its hills lies La Virginia, the farm of Neider Criollo. The processing area on this farm is a little unusual: the wet mill was apparently built by Neider himself, carved into the middle of the hillside. Harvested cherries are carried from the upper part of the farm through an approximately 800-meter tube buried underground, arriving at the processing station further down the slope.

He does not use a thermometer to judge fermentation. Instead, he puts his hand into the tank and decides when fermentation is complete by feel. It is said that it took him a year to develop this sense. The equipment is self-built, and the decisions are made by hand. It is a method unique to a small farm, yet the first specialty lot he shipped in 2020 scored 87 points at the lab, and since then, his export lots have reportedly never scored below 87.

Neider’s coffee reaches us through Fairfield Trading, or FFT. Its founder, Alejandro Rengifo, started the company after working as an economist at the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, FNC, and the International Coffee Organization, ICO. FFT handles only washed coffees. This comes from the belief that, under Colombia’s climate and the conditions faced by small-scale producers, natural and honey processes are more difficult to stabilize in terms of quality.

Every year, FFT co-hosts a competition called the Colombia Washed Coffee Festival, or CWCF, together with the Japanese importer SYU・HA・RI. Lots from more than 100 producers are cupped blind, and the top lots receive premiums on top of the standard purchase price. Producers whose lots do not meet the required standard also receive quality feedback, helping them try again the following year. This cycle, in which premiums are reinvested into infrastructure such as drying roofs and washing stations, supports ongoing improvements in quality among producers. At FUGLEN, we have previously introduced coffees from Huila producers through FFT, including Astrid Medina and Karina Andrea Claros.

Huila is Colombia’s largest coffee-producing region in terms of both cultivated area and production volume. The Andes, which run north to south through the country, divide in southern Colombia into the Central and Eastern Cordilleras, with the Magdalena River flowing between them. Coffee in Huila is grown on the slopes of this valley between the two mountain ranges, at elevations of around 1,200 to 1,800 meters. The soil is volcanic and rich in minerals, and the day-night temperature difference at high elevations is said to slow the maturation of the cherries.

Tarqui is a small municipality in south-central Huila, about 33 kilometers from Garzon, the second-largest town in the department. Tablon de Belgica, where La Virginia is located, sits in the western mountainside area of Tarqui, with the farm positioned on slopes at an altitude of 1,800 meters.

Neider was born into a coffee-farming family, but lost his father when he was eight years old. As a young man, he worked hard and eventually bought a motorcycle. In 2012, he exchanged that motorcycle for his first piece of land, and La Virginia began when he planted 3,500 Colombia variety trees on a high-altitude slope.

At first, he had no drying facilities and had no choice but to sell his coffee as cherry. The turning point came when he built a drying area. From that point on, he was able to finish his own lots, marking the beginning of his journey as a specialty coffee producer. He is also said to receive support in quality improvement from his sister, who is a professional cupper.

The farm today covers three hectares. In addition to 10,000 Colombia variety trees, it is planted with 2,500 Pink Bourbon trees and 160 Geisha trees. The farm is run as a family operation together with his wife, Maribel, his son Santiago, and his daughter Isabella.

This coffee comes from the Colombia variety grown at La Virginia.

The Colombia variety is, as its name suggests, a variety created for this country. In 1982, Colombia’s national coffee research institute, Cenicafé, developed it by crossing Caturra with Timor Hybrid. The goal was resistance to coffee leaf rust, and when leaf rust reached Colombia in the mid-1980s, this variety is said to have protected the industry from serious damage. Because it carries Robusta genetics, it was once often described as “hardy but ordinary in flavor.” Yet that depends greatly on cultivation and processing, and carefully produced lots can go far beyond such preconceptions about the variety.

La Virginia uses a fully washed process. Ripe cherries are hand-picked each day and first left overnight in a hopper for about 12 hours. The following day, they are depulped without water, and the parchment is placed in tanks for 38 to 40 hours of dry fermentation. After fermentation, the parchment is washed twice, then placed in bags called “tulas” and left to drain for around three hours.

Drying takes place on raised beds located on higher ground. Shade mesh is installed over the roof to help regulate temperature, and although it depends on the weather, the coffee is dried slowly over about 15 days. Resting the cherries before pulping without water, then dry fermenting and drying gradually on raised beds, is a process commonly seen among small producers in Huila. Within that familiar flow, what feels most distinctly Neider’s own is the moment when he judges the end of fermentation with his hands.

La Virginia began with a small piece of land obtained in exchange for a motorcycle. Since then, Neider has added the processing station, the drying area, and every part of the farm little by little, with his own hands.