Finca Monte Cielo is owned by 3 female producers. Wilma and her two daughters Nassia and Jharka are working very diligently on their finca, their ancestors’ heritage, and put a lot of emphasis on plant and soil management.
After many years of traditional coffee cultivation, i.e. without any special plant management, they re-planned the area. Siquiles, citrus trees and other useful and shade trees were systematically planted and new coffee plants were introduced. The three female producers take great care to ensure that older coffee plants remain fertile for as long as possible by regularly pruning them and keeping them clean, i.e. removing weeds.
It is also possible to merge an older root with a newer sprout. "The old coffee plants are not bad at all! Their roots go so deep into the soil that they can get their nutrients from the best layers down there."
“What the three women have also created: a place to relax. Finca Monte Cielo is a place of absolute tranquillity. When you enter the finca, it smells of citrus fruits.
You can help yourself to the mandarin and orange trees as you please. Beautiful flowers have been planted at the entrance to the finca. And a wooden hut rises up in the middle, from whose terrace you can look out over many of the neighboring fincas and the jungle.
When you ask her mother, she is always pointing out to her daughters regarding the finca: "It was my parents' terrain and they actually wanted to sell it. If it wouldn't have been for my youngest daughter Jharka, who begged me to keep the finca, maybe I would have sold it...
Well, good they didn’t sell!
Whilst Wilma, the mother, is still in charge mainly of a small hotel in the village center (specialty coffee is unfortunately not yet something they could live from), her older daughter Nassia never misses an opportunity to further her education in coffee. She cups, she talks to other producers, she broadens her horizon in every single way.
And her sister Jharka, is a SCA certified barista and as she did a volunteer service in Germany, she has practiced in different coffee shops in Berlin. At the moment she works as a work student at a known coffee roastery.
Altitude of cultivation: 1.650 m above sea level
Varieties: Catuaí
Preparation: washed
Aromas: peach, chocolate, toffee
