Every other month, our Roaster’s Choice gives us an opportunity to share a coffee with a story behind it. This April’s release, Colombia Huila ASPROTIMANA Women’s Coffee, is one of those coffees.
Grown by 53 women producers in Timaná, Huila, this coffee comes from Asociación de Productores Agrícolas de Timaná (ASPROTIMANA) and their Programa Mujer Cafetera, or “Women Coffee Growers Program.” Through this initiative, women have established and managed their own farms and micro-mills, giving them greater control over both quality and income.
While the cup itself is comforting and approachable, what makes this coffee especially meaningful is the way it connects great flavor with a larger story of independence, traceability, and opportunity.
Why Huila Produces Exceptional Coffee
Huila, located in southern Colombia, is one of the country’s most celebrated coffee-growing regions. The combination of high elevations, rich soils, and a mild climate creates ideal conditions for producing coffees with sweetness, balance, and complexity.
This coffee is grown between 1,590 and 1,750 meters above sea level in the municipality of Timaná. At these elevations, coffee cherries ripen more slowly, allowing sugars and flavor compounds to develop gradually before harvest.
The farms are planted with traditional Colombian varieties including Castillo, Caturra, and Colombia. Combined with the region’s clay-rich soils, those varieties create a cup profile that is smooth and familiar while still offering plenty of nuance.
In the cup, we taste:
- 🍎 Dried apple
- 🍯 Caramel sweetness
- 🍫 Dark chocolate finish
The result is a coffee that feels balanced and approachable, whether brewed as a pour over, drip coffee, or French press.
The Women Behind the Coffee
One of the most unique things about this release is the group behind it.
Programa Mujer Cafetera was created to support women who own and manage their own coffee farms. In many coffee-growing regions, women contribute significantly to the harvest and processing of coffee, but often have less access to land ownership, training, or direct income from the coffee they help produce.
Through ASPROTIMANA, 53 women producers in Timaná have been able to build something of their own.
Working alongside Colombia’s Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje (SENA), these producers have received training in specialty coffee production and post-harvest processing. More importantly, they have been able to establish their own micro-mills, giving them the ability to process and manage their coffee independently.
That independence matters. By controlling more of the process, these women can improve quality, strengthen traceability, and earn better prices for their coffee.
What a Micro-Mill Means
Each producer cultivates coffee on just a few acres of land, often intercropped with shade trees, bananas, corn, and beans. This type of diversified farming supports the health of the land while also providing additional food and income for farming families.
After harvest, the coffee cherries are carefully hand sorted before being depulped, fermented, washed, and dried at each producer’s own micro-mill.
For this coffee, the beans are dried inside solar dryers that protect them from the rain while still allowing for slow, even drying. Having a personal micro-mill gives each producer greater control over these steps, which is one reason coffees like this can achieve such a clean and consistent profile.
Rather than sending cherries to a larger centralized mill, the women of ASPROTIMANA are able to oversee the entire process themselves—from harvest through drying.
What “Fully Washed” Means
This coffee is processed using a traditional fully washed method, which is known for producing clean, balanced, and transparent flavors.
- Step 1 – Hand Sorting & Depulping: After harvest, ripe cherries are carefully sorted by hand. The fruit is then removed from the bean through a depulping machine.
- Step 2 – Fermentation & Washing: The beans are fermented to break down any remaining fruit before being thoroughly washed with clean water.
- Step 3 – Solar Drying: Finally, the coffee is dried inside covered solar dryers, which protect it from rain and help create a more even moisture level.
Unlike more fruit-forward natural or anaerobic coffees, a washed process allows the coffee’s natural sweetness and structure to take center stage. In this coffee, that means layered notes of dried fruit, caramel-like sweetness, and a smooth chocolate finish.
Why Traceability Matters
One of the reasons we are excited to share coffees like this is because we know exactly where they come from.
In commodity coffee, beans from hundreds or even thousands of farms are often blended together, making it difficult to know who produced the coffee or how they were paid.
This coffee is different.
We can trace it directly to a specific group of 53 women producers in Timaná. After processing, ASPROTIMANA works with San Miguel, a family-owned export company based in Huila that specializes in traceable micro-lots.
San Miguel helps maintain quality and transparency throughout the export process while helping these women producers connect with the international market.
That traceability matters because coffees like this often earn higher premiums when their quality and story are recognized. Those premiums can help improve the quality of life for producers and their families while encouraging continued investment in exceptional coffee.
Coffee Details at a Glance
- Region: Timaná, Huila Department, Colombia
- Producers: 53 women producers through ASPROTIMANA
- Altitude: 1,590–1,750 masl
- Varieties: Castillo, Caturra, Colombia
- Process: Fully washed
- Drying: Solar dryers protected from rain
- Harvest: April–June and October–December
- Flavor Notes: Dried apple, caramel, dark chocolate
A Coffee With a Story Worth Sharing
Colombia Huila ASPROTIMANA Women’s Coffee is more than just a delicious cup—it is the result of careful farming, thoughtful processing, and a group of women who are building something of their own.
We love coffees that taste great, but we especially love coffees that remind us every cup begins with people.
As you brew this month’s Roaster’s Choice, we hope you enjoy not only the flavors in the cup, but also the story behind them.
We hope you enjoy every cup.