COLOMBIA LUIS MIGUEL

Region: Calarcá, Quindío, Colombia

Farm: Finca La Carmelita

Producer: Luis Miguel Hoyos

Elevation Grown: 1320MASL

Variety: Castillo

Process: Natural Anaerobic 

Tastes like: Maraschino Cherries, Red Gushers, and Strawberry Smoothie

We visited Luis Miguel earlier this year in Quindío. By the time we stepped off the plane in Armenia and started the drive toward his place, the landscape shifted into what feels like the beating heart of Colombian coffee. Dense hills, warm air, and farms tucked into every direction. This is where Luis has built something special.

We met him first at Polímata Cafe. It started as his way of serving the coffees he admired from other roasters. Before long he was roasting for himself, then visiting producers up and down the region, and eventually buying cherry so he could take more control of quality. The more time he spent around coffee, the more convinced he became that this was the thing he wanted to commit his whole life to.

That conviction spilled into his family too. His uncle Humberto had farmland that grew commercial coffee for years. Luis asked if they could try something different. That idea turned into La Carmelita producing specialty coffee for the first time, with Humberto caring for the trees and Luis directing the work from seed to drying. Processing happens at Villa Gloria, Luis’s own facility, where he handles everything with the kind of precision that only comes from someone who is obsessed in the best way.

Carnaval, the lot we source, is grown at 1320 meters on La Carmelita and processed naturally through a controlled anaerobic fermentation. Luis walked us through the block where it grows, then took us back to Villa Gloria where the same coffee was already ready to roast. Noe and Luis roasted it together at origin that afternoon. It was one of those moments that made the whole trip feel worth it.

This coffee is wild and sweet in all the right ways. Think maraschino cherry and red candy with a creamy strawberry-leaning finish. Full of color, just like the guy who makes it.