In any conversation about the greatest/most prolific/most versatile coffee-growing regions on Chez Earth, Huila must be quickly mentioned. So much incredible coffee comes from this Colombian alcove, a place where small-scale independent farming represents the overwhelming majority of total output, with some 80% of the region’s producers farming 3 hectares of coffee or fewer. While in so much of the world the description of “family farming” is prone to devolving into a vague greenwashing generalization, it really is this region’s status quo.

We’ve featured many producers from Huila over the years and will undoubtedly continue doing so, but this is our first season representing Audon Solano. On Finca el Triunfo, Audon manages 3 hectares of Colombia and Caturra plants as well as over 20 hectares of banana and tangelo trees, making him a fairly large and well-resourced farmer for the region. He is located in Santa Maria, where our importing partners, The Coffee Quest, work with Asociación La Victoria to provide education, farm assistance, and access to finance for all of their contributing producers. 

Audon’s trees are about 70% Variedad Colombia and 30% Caturra, and he takes them through a two-stage fermentation process to deliver the sweet, balanced, elegant character that struck us when we first tasted it. He first ferments the coffee in-cherry for 24 hours, then de-pulps and returns it to the tank for an additional 36 hours. The coffee is then dried in a greenhouse-style structure for 12 - 18 days. 

While many of our Huila favorites over the past few seasons stood out for their crisp and juicy brightness, Audon’s lot won us over for its sweet, fuzzy embrace and spicy, tap-your-toes warmth. These traits make it especially well-suited to espresso, where it’ll give a lusciously creamy body that hugs the palate with the ferocity of a misunderstood monster of yore.