El Embrujo Witch Anaerobic Natural
كالداس أمبريخو وتش
Ignacio Rodriguez’s father purchased the first 12 hectares of Finca La Palmera over 50 years ago. Through tireless work, he continued expanding the farm, which reached 170 hectares by the time Ignacio inherited it. Today, Ignacio applies the same spirited focus to producing specialty-quality coffees.
The name “embrujo” comes from the Spanish word for “spell”. Ignacio believes that truly excellent specialty coffee will evoke the “magic of coffee” for drinkers. To this end, he is focused on transitioning from traditional agriculture to a more specialty focus. Ignacio is building a laboratory and microbiology lab to help him better understand the process at the biological level and ultimately improving his processing for consistency and flavor.
Ignacio employs 48 women year-round. These women, many of whom are single mothers supporting their families, ensure high-quality by sorting cherry and parchment to remove any defective beans.
Igancio saves the pulp from processing his washed process coffees and applies it to coffee trees as fertilizer. He is planning to use vermiculture to further process pulp into nutrient-rich fertilizers. Water from processing is used to irrigate his corn crops. The processing operation is fueled entirely by renewable energy from solar panels. Another change Ignacio is making to ensure the highest quality and most sustainable processing is transitioning to lower water- use processing, like this Natural. In addition to coffee, Ignacio also grows avocados and maize.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
This delicious Witch Anaerobic Natural from Eje Cafetero is indeed a magical experience and we think you’ll enjoy it. Once at the on-farm processing center, cherry is floated to remove underripes and then transported to moving belts where women hand sort cherry, removing any damaged cherry. Cherry is placed in 25kg plastic bags and many bags are placed together in 2,500kg tanks. The tank is filled with water to create an oxygen-less (anaerobic) environment. Cherry ferments for 100 hours and pH and Brix (sugar content) are measured frequently to ensure the proper level of fermentation is reached. Following fermentation, cherry is placed in mechanical dryers on low heat. It takes approximately 140 hours for cherry to dry at temperatures below 40 degrees Celsius. Once dried, coffee is placed in Grainpro bags and rested before being prepared for export.
