Jairo Arcila, Colombia

Jairo Arcila has dedicated his life to coffee, starting as a mill manager with Colombia’s second-largest exporting company, where he gained over 40 years of experience. In 1987, he purchased his first farm, Finca La Esmeralda, planting Caturra coffee trees. Through hard work, these trees provided the financial grounding for Jairo to acquire five more farms: Villarazo, Mazatlan, Santa Monica, Maracay, and Buenos Aires. These farms have nurtured the local economy by offering employment to locals during harvest seasons. In 2019, Jairo retired and now oversees his estates with his sons, Carlos and Felipe, fourth-generation producers and co-founders of Cofinet.

The Bourbon Aruzi has an intriguing origin and, despite its name, is not the classic Bourbon we are familiar with. Discovered in Inza, Cauca, a producer named Javier Quintero noticed one of his coffee trees stood out from the rest. 

It was particularly resistant to disease and produced more fruit than the others in the same plot. Colombian farmers, including Jairo, began cultivating this variety. A few years later, genetic testing in London revealed it shared similar genetics to Bourbon Aruzi, a variety originally grown in Ethiopia. As most Arabica in the world are descendants of Ethiopian trees, it’s exciting and anticipated to discover these distant relatives.

From the six farms, this specific lot comes from Santa Monica. The coffee undergoes a traditional washed processing to highlight the true characteristics of the Bourbon Aruzi. The cherries are harvested at peak ripeness, then hand-sorted to remove any defects. The cherries are then fermented, submerged in clean water for 30 hours before being pulped. 

In parchment form after pulping, they are washed again with clean water to remove residual mucilage and dried under strict temperature-monitored conditions to the ideal moisture content. This processing gives a clean and expressive cup profile to best experience this new variety.

Cofinet has played an instrumental role in bridging Colombian producers and their unique coffees to more markets around the world. Carlos and Felipe Arcila have brought new expertise and resources to several Colombian producers, often starting close to home with their own farms or their father's. Over recent years, Jairo has embraced new exotic coffee varieties and advancements in farming practices, harvesting, and processing methods on his farms. With the invaluable wisdom of Jairo’s experience and the modern perspective of Carlos and Felipe, Jairo has been producing an exceptional catalogue of coffees with unique flavour profiles.