Buesaco, Washed Espresso - Colombia

Buesaco’s rise as a specialty origin is relatively recent. Through the 1990s and early 2000s, civil conflict and guerrilla control pushed agriculture toward survival rather than quality. When peace gradually returned in the 2010s, growers began to realise that their high-elevation terroir could compete at the highest levels. Farmers organised through associations like Grupo Empresarial Buesaco and later Alianza Café, shifting focus toward selective harvesting, careful processing and transparent commercialisation to access international specialty markets and earn meaningful premiums.

This coffee comes from eight smallholder producers farming the steep hillsides around Buesaco in eastern Nariño, Colombia. The farms here are on average 1.5 hectares and embedded in dense native vegetation. The coffee is processed individually at each farm’s micro-mill. Cherries were pulped, fermented for up to 36 hours depending on conditions, then fully washed and density-sorted before drying slowly for 10–18 days on covered parabolic beds. The result is a coffee that reflects both place and progress, vibrant yet composed, fruit-forward without excess, and rooted in a community that has rebuilt its future through quality, cooperation and care.

• Region: Nariño
• Country: Colombia
• Elevation: 1,800 - 2,200 masl
• Variety: Caturra
• Process: Washed