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SAN AGUSTÍN, COLOMBIA THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE OF THE ASOCIACIÓN LOS NARANJOS OVER THE COURSE OF MY LIFE I have had many revolving images of paradise in my head. Waking up early our first morning in San Agustín, Colombia, to bright blue macaw, and fruits and trees of colors and sizes I had never seen before, proved this place to be a living, breathing example of that magical ideal. In reality, it met all the criteria that I have always thought a paradise should be. Deep vivid greens, brilliant yellows, dazzling pinks, and radiant sunlike oranges are the colors my eyes met that first morning as I tried to digest this dreamlike, picturesque landscape. This visual experience, supported by some of the warmest smiles and handshakes of the people of San Agustín, greatly contributed to this magical place filling that image of paradise perfectly in my head. This amazingly colorful area of Colombia, located in the southern region of Huila, nudges up against a protected bioma, or nature preserve, to the south that is at the base of two sections of the Andes Mountains. The atmospheric pressure above these foothills often brings rain to this region, and the people of San Agustín believe that the bioma carries a special spiritual significance due to it being the gatekeeper to favorable or unfavorable weather for the year. We saw a deep spiritual connection here with the land by all producers in the area, something that translates seamlessly to properly maintaining and loving the farms which bear their coffee, their livelihood. San Agustín is an area rich with agronomic diversity. It has an unbelievable number of different types of fruits, most of which would be totally foreign to people visiting from outside of Colombia. Lulo, uchuva, Previous page, at top: Finca La Tribuna, San Agustín, Colombia, Los Naranjos; below: Finca La Lomita, Juan David Acevedo, Huila, Colombia, Primaveral. This page: Alejandro Renifo of Fairfield Trading cowboys up. guava, unprocessed panela, and raw cacao were all varieties of vegetation that were new to my palate, but part of everyday life here. Looking back, I now understand why many of these farmers had no formal cupping experience, yet could appreciate and point out the powerful tropical fruit flavors notoriously present in the most exquisite Huila coffees. At a cupping we had near Pitalito, Arnulfo Leguizamo, the 2011 Cup of Excellence (COE) winner joined us. Though we cupped more than 40 coffees that day, Arnulfo stepped up to the table, cupped through many of them, and correctly identified his microlot. I was astonished. His coffee had such distinctive Kenya-like grapefruit acidity and sweet blackberry finish that it was by far the best coffee on the table. Arnulfo's appreciation for and understanding of those flavors in his own coffee speaks to the larger mentality of the farmers in this region: They understand quality and what we as consumers are looking for in the cup, which allows them to process their coffee in a way that lends itself to bringing out those characteristics. This trip was mainly a buying trip for my employer, Café Imports, and we visited the region with buyers from several roasting companies that have purchased this coffee in the past. Our intention was to visit these producers to ensure that the quality incentives we had established with the association were working, and that these industrious men and women have the support they need to produce the quality and quantity of coffee they would like to in order to best support their families. For farmers like Arnulfo Leguizamo, this means producing small amounts of 90+ point microlots, while for others this means improving their larger quantities of coffees to get to above 86 points and qualify for specific quality incentives per carga from www.baristamagazine.com 31