Finca San Isidro

Finca San Isidro has grown over the last few years, and is now 17 hectares in size. Don Alirio has worked hard over the years to get his farm to this size, buying bits and pieces of land around his farm as they have become available. As the size of the farm has increased, Don Alirio and Doña Nubia have had to make improvements to the farm’s beneficio. The extra land and trees have meant that they have needed to find ways to deal with the extra crop. The mechanical washer they installed a few years ago solved the bottle-neck at the pulping stage, and now they have bought a dryer to help with the drying phase. The coffee is pulped, fermented for 36 hours in tiled tanks, and then washed before being taken to the drying greenhouses. When the coffee reaches 30% humidity, it is taken to the guardiola (small dryer) until it finishes drying. The use of a humidity meter is important here as there are problems with over and under drying. This technology really helps improve the quality consisitancy of the coffee. Along with coffee, San Isidro produces plantain, mandarins and trout from a pond built next to the house.