Papayo My Guy-O

The Montanchez Cundar family officially arrived in Los Guaduales in 2001, where there was already coffee growing and a stable for cattle. Don Jesus was motivated by their new
circumstances to do everything he could to succeed as a coffee farmer, despite having no prior connection or experience with coffee growing. But as Maria shared with us, it was her hard-working character who pushed Jesus through his doubts saying, “If he could succeed growing coca, he would succeed with coffee as well.” Not only was it Jesus’ goal to succeed and provide safety and prosperity for his children, but also to create a future for them that they
could assume as they reached adulthood. With all of this in his mind, Jesus set to work and over the years, his dedication and commitment were such that he became well-known around San Agustin.

As the Montanchez children finished their primary studies, Yuri and the others became more involved in the farm under the watchful eye of their father. Together, they salvaged old parcels of coffee that were overgrown and neglected, identified the best areas for planting coffee, and set aside parcels for the growing of subsistence crops like tomatoes, plantains, and corn. Taking advice from their neighbours, they began planting higher quality varieties like Caturra and Pink
Bourbon as well as disease-resistant varieties like Castillo.
Over the years, Jesus came to meet Don Augusto Ortega, who was and is well-known as one of the first to seek out a differentiated market for his coffees in the San Agustin area.

As the Monkaaba project took off in late 2020, with Augusto and his wife Marleny as spearheading members, Augusto made the invitation to Don Jesus to join. At this point, the family was selling all of their coffee to large exporters in nearby Pitalito where they would be delivered in large lots
and blended into full container shipments. Jesus never knew who his buyer was or where his coffee ended up, and it was one of his dreams to change this model of working. He was
intrigued by the new project and suggested Robert bring some of his first Pink Bourbon harvests to the buying point.

With the success and experience he achieved, Robert began pushing the rest of the family to become more involved. As most of the farm is largely planted with varieties of a lower cup potential, like Castillo, it took several tries for Yuri - who manages the Castillo - to achieve a micro lot. This lot represents her first success in that vein and her first ever international sale under her name at the age of 35.

Processing
Cherries are collected at peak ripeness every 21 days and left to ferment for 12 hours in a wooden hopper. They are then de-pulped and left to dry ferment in a tiled tank for another 48
hours, at which point the mass is covered in water and left to wet ferment for an additional 10 hours. The seeds are then washed clean of mucilage and moved to solar dryers, where they’re dried for 16-20 days.