Producer: Dora & Mario Duque
Farm: Guadua los Dos
Region: Montebonito, Caldas, Colombia
Varietal: Caturra
Process: Washed & dried in “eldas'“
Importer: Falcon Speciality

Monte Bonito is a small town in the Caldas region in Colombia. You may also recognise it as the name of a coffee that we feature as our house espresso for a part of the year. That lot is produced by a group of small coffee growers in the area, most of whom have a small plot of land, usually between 1 – 3 hectares, planted with coffee. Once harvested and processed, their coffee is sold in parchment to the local Manizales Cooperative, and typically it is exported as a delicious regional lot – Monte Bonito. Some producers deliver exceptional lots that are selected for their stand out character, valued at a higher price and exported as micro-lots. We are very lucky to have got our hands on this delicious one produced by Mario and Dora Duque.

Mario Duque and his wife Dora  bought their farm - Finca Guadua les Dos - 10 years ago, after Mario's father had died. The farm is a total size of 3 hectares and it is situated just outside of the main town of Monte Bonito. They have both the varieties Castillo Naranjal and Caturra (about 1300 trees) and they separate the varieties during harvest. They have around 6500 trees in production and are currently renewing 1500 trees. On the farm there are also orange and Guanabana trees providing shade for the coffee.

During the main harvest, the coffee is picked by hand with the help of around 4 – 5 workers and processed at a small wet mill, currently located in the centre of their house.  Once the coffee is de-pulped, it is fermented in tiled tanks for approximately 12-16 hours before being dried in an 'elda' - a drying patio on the roof of their house, for 8 - 15 days depending on the weather. When the coffee has dried and rested it is delivered to the Manizales Cooperative collection point in the town for grading and sale.

We were very excited by the opportunity to cup this lot when it became available from our friends at Falcon Speciality, as we have loved our Monte Bonito espresso and were convinced there was potential for great microlot selections in the region. This is an exceptional cup with a jammy body, loads of clean demerara sugar sweetness and elegant dark fruit notes of blackberry and cherry.

Dora & Mario Duque

Curve is a speciality coffee roastery based in Margate, East Kent.

We're dedicated to responsibly sourcing the most interesting fresh crop green coffee we can get our hands on and roasting it to bring out the best of its intrinsic flavours. 

Our mission is to put producers in the spotlight and celebrate the dedication and hard work that happens at coffee origins. Each coffee has a unique story and we want to share them.

We believe world of speciality coffee is endlessly inspiring and fascinating but it should also be fun, accessible and sustainable. We strive to be at the forefront of the industry, constantly exploring, learning and improving our practices in quest of outstanding quality but also sustainability. 

We're determined to become an acknowledged source of coffee and education and nurture the growing speciality coffee community in the Kent area as well as to make positive contribution toward enhancement of the vibrant global speciality coffee community.

Dora & Mario Duque

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Dora & Mario Duque

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