Region: Sevilla, San Augustin, Huila
Farm: El Progresso
Producer: Gloria Ortega
Alt: 1870-1920 masl
Variety: Pink Bourbon & Caturra
Process: fully washed – dried on raised beds
Processing details: Coffee cherries are harvested every 3 weeks and left in a wooden bin for 24 hours. The fermented coffee is pulped with that day's picking, which has been previously soaked. Cherries are then left to dry ferment in majolica tanks for a further 28 hours. After washing, the cherries are left to drain for 1 hour and then taken to a dryer for 18 - 25 days.
Gloria grew up in Sevilla, in the municipality of San Agustín, raised alongside her grandfather and aunt, with deep roots in coffee farming. Limited resources forced her to leave school early, and she began working as a coffee picker on family and neighboring farms. Despite these challenges, she later completed high school as an adult through a government program, an achievement she shares proudly with her children, who all graduated the same year.
With her husband Alberto, Gloria purchased the El Progreso farm, where they revitalized old coffee plantings and gradually replanted with Caturra. After years of instability, personal hardship, and an eventual separation, Gloria returned to the farm with her children to start over from scratch. Through support from family and exposure to specialty coffee, she rebuilt El Progreso, renewing the farm with Pink Bourbon and improving processing. Recently, she began exploring specialty markets, conducting her first quality-focused trials with guidance from the Monkaaba project, marking a new chapter for her coffee and her family.