Karol Ortega - Colombia

Juicy and complex. Tasting like elderflower syrup, lime zest, and hints of tropical fruits.

Origin: Colombia
Region: San Agustín, Huila

Producer: Karol Ortega

Elevation: 1900 - 2000 masl
Variety: Sidra

Process: Dry-Fermented Washed

Cherries are collected every three weeks. Once collected, they are left to ferment for 12 hours in a wooden hopper before being de-pulped. The cherries are then de-pulped and left to dry ferment for another 36 hours. The coffee is washed four times and then left to drain for six hours before being spread out on raised beds to dry for 18 days.

Roasted for: Filter


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We are thrilled to collaborate with Karol Ortega through our esteemed long-term partners Semilla and the Monkaaba project.

Karol is a young grower who, together with her husband Diego, the son of the legend Arnulfo Leguizamo (a past Cup of Excellence winner in Colombia), is producing some beautiful lots, including this Sidra.

Diego and Karol have been vitally involved in Monkaaba, the smallholder-run initiative that operates as the local sourcing and support arm of Semilla in Colombia, contributing financially to start the farm-based roasting and cupping lab where all these lots are selected.

Though the Leguizamo-Ortega family has had specialty access in the past, they have nonetheless found themselves wanting more, especially as Diego has taken over the farm.

His father’s reputation for exceptional quality led to them securing above-average prices and some international market access, but like many growers of the older generation, he still often entered each new harvest unsure if his coffees would be purchased and, if so, how much would be paid.

This reflects the negative impacts of the quality-focused specialty market that dominates competitive areas like San Agustin—although there may be more buying points offering differentiated prices, smallholders remain at the mercy of those who cup their coffee locally and determine its value by a single sample. It remains common for excellent coffees to be scored lower at the buying point to justify lower prices, while then being sold at microlot prices externally.

As you’ll read below, this was a major motivation for the growers to form Monkaaba, so they could have more control over the narrative and sale of their coffees. Rather than relying on the word of dispassionate and sometimes corrupt buyers who control the price they receive and keep them distant from their final clients, Monkaaba was created so smallholders would have free and unbiased access to information on the quality of their coffee and all stages of the coffee supply chain.

Beyond Karol and Diego’s financial involvement from the start in Monkaaba, Karol has also been a key member of the Monkaaba team, eager to learn as much as she can about the coffee production system beyond the farm level.

She was one of the first community members to join as an employee in the warehouse and lab, initially responsible for the physical analysis of samples and managing the warehouse inventory, and now managing sample roasting and roasting coffee for smallholders for a small fee, allowing them to enjoy their own coffees at home.

Her involvement in the lab has set an example for many other young people and young women, as there are now six other multigenerational smallholders—including Silvia Ordonez, Karen Burbano, Jhon Jairo Gomez, Damian Bolaños, and Alejo Ortega—working part-time for Monkaaba.

This progression shows the realization of the focus on advancing peripheral smallholders along the supply chain. Moving from producers with coffee and no steady buyer, to assessing their own coffees, roasting them, and managing their export and sale leads them to greater autonomy and agency, and of course, to increased accrued value.