Colombia El Paraiso washed

Coffee from farmer Yannin Diaz is a staple and a labor of love in our offering. We have been in online contact with Yannin several times, but it wasn't until our visit to Colombia in September 2023 that we could meet him in person. Yannin's farm is situated high in the mountains above the town of Planadas in the Tolima region, where we had our base for a few days. Despite the farm being only about 10-15 km from town, the journey to the farm is very challenging and, depending on weather conditions, can take 2-4 hours by heavy terrain vehicle. The journey itself gave us just a glimpse of the hard work Yannin undertakes, as transporting just a few bags of coffee to the town of Planadas can sometimes take him an entire day.

Yannin grew up on a coffee farm and learned to grow and process coffee alongside his father. In 1998, he purchased his farm, El Paraiso, at an altitude of 2100 meters above sea level at the foot of a hill that is part of the Central Andean Massif.

Starting out, Yannin and his then-wife grew commodity coffee, which they sold cheaply. As he described it, after turbulent years, a major setback came. He had a serious accident while riding a motorcycle under the influence of alcohol, from which he spent many months recovering in the hospital. Following the accident, he wanted to change his life and, as part of that, improve the quality of his production. He began working to ensure his coffee was of the highest quality possible, aiming to earn more for it.

Improving quality was greatly aided by our supplier, InConexus, which has a significant influence on coffee growing quality throughout the region. Yannin's hard work and dedication to producing the best coffee culminated in him becoming an ambassador for InConexus's local project called El Brasil, setting an example for many local farmers. Later, Yannin purchased another farm located at a slightly lower altitude of around 1800 meters above sea level. One major advantage is that Yannin's farms are located on different sides of the Central Andean Massif, allowing him to produce coffee year-round.