Luis Edgar Camacho & LaREB

Luis Edgar Camacho was introduced to LaREB by our long term partner Lizardo Herrera. Luis also grows coffee near Palestina, in the Huila region. He has been working in coffee for many years, and has been part of the strong drive for quality and experimentation in Huila over the past 10 years. Luis grows Geisha, Pink Bourbon, Caturra and Bourbon, and has experimented with processing over the past few years. LaREB have been very impressed by his professionalism, the portfolio of samples he delivered were carefully organised, with lots of detailed processing information available. The collaboration has also been fruitful, Luis and LaREB have begun to hone in on the profiles that work best, working towards a selection for the coming harvest.

Huila

Luis grows coffee near the town of Palestina in southern Huila, one of the most renowned growing regions in Colombia. Huila’s volcanic soils, undisturbed by the intensive agriculture seen further north, are full of nutrition, and alongside high altitude, lead to excellent conditions for producing high quality coffees. We also see a great number of driven and agile small farmers here, many of whom have family history in coffee, but haven’t necessarily been working on the same large industrialised farms for generations, like we see in more established coffee regions. This leads to a willingness to experiment, to innovate, and create lots that fulfil ever changing needs in the speciality coffee market. One example of this is Pink Bourbon, said to be a natural mutation discovered in Huila, an exotic varietal that exhibits crisp and clean aromatic character, often with floral and tropical elements.