The Plantations were Catayma Coffee is
                              Grown, and their "Ecotopo"

Coffee, like most plants, requires a specific set of environmental and management conditions to fully achieve its quality potential. Colombia is a country with such a variety of climates that the Colombian Federation of Coffee Growers underwent a complex study of the different coffee growing regions throughout the country. As a result, these regions were grouped in sets of areas called "Ecotopos". An Ecotopo is a set of geographical characteristics distinguished by their unique soil, varied altitudes and climatic conditions.

The growers of Catayma Coffee, aware of this information, gathered a large group of small plantations located in a single ecotopo and evaluated over a period of time the physic and organoleptic (cup) properties of the coffee beans produced there.

With the technical support of the Colombian Federation of Coffee Growers, the cultural and milling practices on those plantations were standardized until there could be certainty of Catayma's product consistency. This consistency developed and the proximity of the farms that grow the coffee, are the key factors for we could reassure our coffee as an "Estate Coffee".

Located in Ecotopo 209-B, the farms that grow the beans used for Catayma Coffee, are all located on soils derived from the "San Simón" geological formation.

The San Simón formation, rich in Phosphorus, Calcium and Magnesium, derives the loose and fertile soils that in addition to the rain fall distribution, and of course the management practices employed, warrantees a sustainable coffee culture under the regulated shade provided by native species. As an example of this sustainability, one of our farms has been growing coffee for the last ninety years, and "expects to keep doing it beyond the 21st century".