Edwin Noreña - Farm Campo Hermoso - the "Coffee Alchemist"

We would like to introduce: Edwin Noreña

Edwin Norena is a coffee farmer, Q-Grader, Q-Processor, Cup of Excellence Judge and farm consultant. He is the owner of Finca Campo Hermoso in Circasia, Quindio.

Edwin's history in specialty coffee is long: Like many children from Quindio, he grew up with green coffee. His family farm Campo Hermoso in Circasia remains his home base.

His path into the world of specialty coffee is not only thanks to his own farm. He attended numerous courses at Sena, a free school in Colombia that specializes in artisanal trades. Later, he himself was a teacher at Sena.

We at Col-Spirit first met Edwin in 2017 at Finca Puerto Alegre, where he worked as a farm and processing consultant. Even then, he was experimenting with fermentation methods that aimed to produce the cleanest possible cup despite long-term fermentation.

At Finca Puerto Alegre we saw for the first time a refrigerator filled not with cold drinks but with "mosto", the juice of the coffee cherry. The aim is to give the microorganisms their own juice back at different times of the fermentation phase. This prolongs the fermentation without risking over-fermentation.

Edwin's method makes it possible to produce competitive coffees without "adulterating" the coffees with foreign additives. The actual coffee flavor is intensified instead of being masked as is the case with co-fermentation.

At Campo Hermoso, Edwin works with a wide variety of varieties: Castillo, Caturra, Caturron, Sudan Rume, Gesha (Geisha), Pink Bourbon, Sidra, Mocha, Wush Wush and others. This broad portfolio is possible because he not only uses his own production, but also buys coffee cherries from other farmers. This is a common practice these days for farmers like Edwin who specialize in specific fermentation methods.

When you enter the Campo Hermoso farm, you immediately notice the many round-bottomed barrels. Here, small batches can be individually produced under control of temperature and pH value. Some people affectionately call this a "bioreactor", I call it a plastic wide-neck barrel with measuring devices. Edwin has also installed huge tanks to extract and process mosto. He continues to invest in his farm in order to constantly develop his coffees.

At Campo Hermoso, Edwin also experiments and produces various co-fermentations. Natural and Honeys are fermented with IPA/hops, watermelon, cinnamon, red fruits, purple fruits, lychee and much more.

What we really appreciate about Edwin is his openness and honesty about his coffees. Over the years, we have had a variety of coffees come to our cupping table, where the producers assured us that they did not use any additives. However, through aroma, taste and various tests, it turned out that the coffees did not contain only coffee in accordance with the regulations. Not so with Edwin! Clear questions, clear answers. If you do not want co-fermentation, he has a large selection of first-class competitive green coffees.

In 2021, Edwin ended his work as a farm consultant in Colombia. He was the initiator of the "Santuario Project", which aims to identify specialty coffees in various countries and export them primarily to Australia. Edwin has mentored and trained many young farmers to produce excellent coffee qualities for export and to successfully implement his fermentation methods.

Unfortunately, after a while, some of the farmers decided to sell their exquisite coffees themselves. Since then, Edwin has only been advising farms in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama and Brazil. In Colombia, his biggest goal is to build his own farm into one of the world's best coffee producers.

Click here to go directly to Edwin's coffees - Campo Hermoso!