William Cruz is one of the younger and more progressive producers from the El Carmen de Acevedo association, heavily involved in every aspect of his farm from coffee processing and field management to experimenting with new approaches.

This is a coffee with a particularly personal connection for us. During our autumn origin trip to Colombia, William's farm was the first stop on our first full day in Huila. What began as a farm visit turned into an informal gathering as more producers from the El Carmen community arrived throughout the morning, giving us the opportunity to hear from many members of this remarkable association.

William runs a family operation where they don't just grow coffee—they also cultivate sugar cane and keep cattle. As we walked through the fields, we tasted cherries from different coffee varietals including Pink Bourbon, Colombia, and Caturra, getting a close-up look at the trees and understanding the incredible amount of hard work that goes into coffee production.

His honey processed coffee stood out during our cupping session. The honey process involves removing the skin from the cherry while leaving much of the sticky fruit layer (mucilage) on the bean during drying, resulting in the sweet, syrupy character and vibrant notes of white grape, bakers chocolate, and vanilla that make this coffee so distinctive.

El Carmen is a community that Raw Material has been connected with since 2017, and seeing producers like William leading the way reflects the ongoing growth and progress in this special region of Huila.

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This coffee is sourced through Raw Material Coffee.

This coffee works well black and also with milk.

Suitable for - Espresso, Cafetiere, Filter, Aeropress

Notes / White Grape, Bakers Chocolate, Vanilla

Producer / William Cruz

Farm / Finca Jericó

Association / El Carmen de Acevedo

Region / Huila, Colombia

Variety / Caturron

Process / Honey

Altitude / 1400–1600 MASL