We recently had the pleasure of meeting Don Augusto on his farm, Finca Asturias, in San Agustin. He has been growing coffee since 1985, and the decades of experience and commitment to coffee production can be felt in every sip of this lot. Sidra is a rare and highly sought-after varietal famous for its fruity and floral notes. This particular lot is juicy in the cup and brings to mind raspberry liqueur, vanilla, and green apple. It especially shines as espresso, which brings out a creamy dark chocolate.
Don Augusto has a respected legacy of fighting for better conditions for his community of coffee producers in San Agustin. In 2000, he joined Los Naranjos, an association of coffee producers trying to break into the then-burgeoning specialty market to secure fair prices and relationships with buyers. His powerful character and dedication encouraged other producers of his generation to join as well. When Monkaaba was founded a few years ago, he was among the first to join - after all, it was the younger generation of his own family that founded the company.
Monkaaba, in partnership with the importing company Semilla, has a quietly revolutionary way of buying coffee. Their buying point is meticulously organized, with open cuppings and extensive documentation to ensure that producers know what their coffee is worth, where it’s going, and how much they deserve to be paid. Semilla tries to always pay more for the coffees they buy than the regional average, to fairly compensate the smallholding coffee producers of the Global South. Monkaaba is a venue of practical solidarity among producers in the Huila region, sidestepping traditional neocolonial models of predatory extraction. It is an honor to present some of their coffees in our shop.
We Taste: Raspberry Liqueur, Vanilla, Green Apple, Dark Chocolate, Juicy
Country: Colombia
Region: San Agustin, Huila
Process: Washed
Lot name: Augusto Ortega Sidra
Producer: Augusto Ortega
Varietal: Sidra
Elevation: 1650-1850
Harvest Date: October 2025
Farmgate price: COP$5,000,000 per carga parchment
National farmgate price (avg.): COP$2,800,000 per carga parchment
FOB Price: $7.81 USD/lb
Our Price: $11.15 USD/lb
Quantity Purchased: 6 × 24 kg
About this coffee:
Cherries are picked every 21 days when they reach peak ripeness. They are floated and hand-selected to remove defects and then placed on raised beds to drain the excess water. Around 14 hours later, the coffee is de-pulped and dry ferments for an average of 36 hours in oak tanks. It’s rinsed four times and then left to drain in plastic bags for another 10 hours. After that, the coffee is dried for 20 days in the shade.
“I hope to continue forward tackling the challenges posed to coffee growers by planting new varieties and to be in union with other coffee growers so we can improve ourselves through our own good advice and counsel.” - Augusto Ortega
We recently had the pleasure of meeting Don Augusto on his farm, Finca Asturias, in San Agustin. He has been growing coffee since 1985, and the decades of experience and commitment to coffee production can be felt in every sip of this lot. Sidra is a rare and highly sought-after varietal famous for its fruity and floral notes. This particular lot is juicy in the cup and brings to mind raspberry liqueur, vanilla, and green apple. It especially shines as espresso, which brings out a creamy dark chocolate.
Don Augusto has a respected legacy of fighting for better conditions for his community of coffee producers in San Agustin. In 2000, he joined Los Naranjos, an association of coffee producers trying to break into the then-burgeoning specialty market to secure fair prices and relationships with buyers. His powerful character and dedication encouraged other producers of his generation to join as well. When Monkaaba was founded a few years ago, he was among the first to join - after all, it was the younger generation of his own family that founded the company.
Monkaaba, in partnership with the importing company Semilla, has a quietly revolutionary way of buying coffee. Their buying point is meticulously organized, with open cuppings and extensive documentation to ensure that producers know what their coffee is worth, where it’s going, and how much they deserve to be paid. Semilla tries to always pay more for the coffees they buy than the regional average, to fairly compensate the smallholding coffee producers of the Global South. Monkaaba is a venue of practical solidarity among producers in the Huila region, sidestepping traditional neocolonial models of predatory extraction. It is an honor to present some of their coffees in our shop.
We Taste: Raspberry Liqueur, Vanilla, Green Apple, Dark Chocolate, Juicy
Country: Colombia
Region: San Agustin, Huila
Process: Washed
Lot name: Augusto Ortega Sidra
Producer: Augusto Ortega
Varietal: Sidra
Elevation: 1650-1850
Harvest Date: October 2025
Farmgate price: COP$5,000,000 per carga parchment
National farmgate price (avg.): COP$2,800,000 per carga parchment
FOB Price: $7.81 USD/lb
Our Price: $11.15 USD/lb
Quantity Purchased: 6 × 24 kg
About this coffee:
Cherries are picked every 21 days when they reach peak ripeness. They are floated and hand-selected to remove defects and then placed on raised beds to drain the excess water. Around 14 hours later, the coffee is de-pulped and dry ferments for an average of 36 hours in oak tanks. It’s rinsed four times and then left to drain in plastic bags for another 10 hours. After that, the coffee is dried for 20 days in the shade.
“I hope to continue forward tackling the challenges posed to coffee growers by planting new varieties and to be in union with other coffee growers so we can improve ourselves through our own good advice and counsel.” - Augusto Ortega
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