Colombia - Jésus Cerón - Honey

Next roast date: 20h of January. Next shipping date: 22nd of January.

Jésus Cerón

On my travels to Colombia, I've not only met the Argote family (who export the coffee from Colombia) but also Jésus Cerón.

On the outskirts of the village of Génova, lives Jésus together with his wife, his brother and his mother. With the rest of their extended family they've build a small "village" of their own. Everybody owns a small plot of land with their house on it. In between of the homes, you can find patches of forest and of course coffee plantations.

On one of my last days in Génova, I visited the Cerón family and Jésus' mother made us “café con queso” . Yes, you've read that right, she made us coffee with cheese. It was a relatively young and salty cheese not unlike a weak feta. To my surprise, it was actually quite delicious!

On top of coffee, the Cerón family also grows fruit trees and breed Guinea pigsa delicacy in this region of Colombia. It tastes a bit like a mix of pig and chicken meat.

Jésus produces mainly natural and honey coffees.

He has been selling coffee to the FNC (Féderacion Nacional de Cafeteros) for most of his life but after meeting Juan Pablo, found out that his coffee is of exceptional quality. This is mainly due to his meticulous way of working. He is healthy again after surviving cancer and chemotherapy some years ago, making his feat of high quality production even more astounding.

This coffee is a honey, which means the fruit is removed but the mucus is left on the beans while drying. Due to this process, the coffee develops different flavors than say a washed coffee. The taste notes of chocolate, red apple and mango make Jésus' coffee into a real delight.

• Grown in: Colón Génova, Nariño, Colombia
• Altitude: 1950-2000m
• Taste notes: chocolate, red apple and mango
• SCA score: 85.75 out of 100 (excellent) 
• Process: Honey
• 100% Arabica
• Harvested by hand
• Fairly traded

Interview with Juan Pablo, who exports Jésus' coffee