Francisco Giraldo has spent his entire life around coffee. His father was a coffee farmer, and after his death, Francisco decided to continue the legacy, taking over the care of Finca El Edén. This was no small task, as the farm lies in the middle of a historically dangerous region of Colombia known as Antioquia.
The department’s capital, Medellín, once notorious for being home to Pablo Escobar, is far from rural areas like Ituango—where El Edén is located—which have endured decades of violent conflict involving paramilitaries and the Marxist-Leninist guerrilla group known as the FARC. The danger posed by these groups was ever-present, and in 2009, Francisco himself fell victim to a landmine explosion, losing an eye as well as his sense of taste and smell. Years later, during a resurgence of violence, he was forced to abandon the farm, losing his income for many months before it was safe to return.
Nevertheless, Francisco and his family remain dedicated to their community and their heritage as coffee farmers. Francisco’s nephew, Juan Carlos Arango, carries this dedication into his work as an importer. Not only do Arango and his team visit these potentially dangerous regions, but they also steadfastly guarantee better quality and better coffee prices—ensuring an income often higher than what the FNC (Colombia’s coffee trade federation) provides. In fact, Arango not only secures better prices for the farmers he works with, but he also engages in profit-sharing, providing a second income during the post-harvest season, when cash flow can be especially tight for farmers.
This is our seventh year buying coffee from Finca El Edén and the first time we have purchased a Gesha from them. This varietal, which originates in the Gori Gesha Forest of Ethiopia, is famous for the quality it produces in certain Central and South American microclimates—most notably the Boquete region of Panama. In recent years, we’ve featured Gesha coffees from Panama, from Costa Rica, and now from Colombia, all of which offer a silky-smooth chocolate quality, paired with complex aromatics of fruit and florals, and a long, sweet finish. This coffee perfectly matches that definition, and we’re excited to share it with you.
