Colombia El Bado

Buy Colombia El Bado here.

DIRECT TRADE PARTNER
María Etilvina Días
Finca El Bado

REGION
Buesaco, Nariño

CULTIVARS
Caturra, Typica, Bourbon

ELEVATION
2000 m

HARVEST DATES
June-August 2021

LOOK FOR
Apple | Orange | Plum

Buesaco, Nariño, is well on its way to earning grand cru status in Colombia’s coffee sector. Over the last decade, thanks in part to its dominance in the Colombia Cup of Excellence quality competition, it has developed a reputation for being among the best places to look for bright, complex coffees. One of the southernmost coffee regions in Colombia, it lies just north of the Equator, where the combination of high elevation—many farms there are situated above 2000 meters—with intense sun, volcanic soils, and cool Pacific winds provides a near ideal terroir.

The López family has played a major role in Buesaco’s ascendency. Franco José Héctor López, whose La Mina farm has won more awards in national competitions than any other in Colombia. His daughter, Cielo, and her husband, Nilson, have spent much of the last decade helping other producers in Buesaco adopt innovative quality practices and increase the value of their coffees. Cielo leads a group of small-scale growers in the municipality and helps them get their coffees to market, while Nilson spends time organizing farmers in the area when he is not busy managing his own farm, San Antonio, and his mother’s, El Bado.

El Bado took first place in the CoE in 2014 and stands apart from others in the zone for its exceptional elevation (over 2000 meters in its highest reaches), and its conservation of older varieties like Bourbon and Typica which have all but vanished from Nariño. It was first established 25 years ago with two hectares by Maria Etilvina Días and her late husband, and has slowly grown to nearly seven hectares today.

— Geoff Watts
Vice President of Coffee
Green Coffee Buyer for Colombia