Bibiana Mena Narino Micro Lot

Farm: Finca La Cumbre
Owner: The Lopez Mena Family
Location: El Tambo, Nariño, Colombia
Altitude: 1750-2100masl
Varietal: Caturra, Colombia & Castillo
Process: Washed
Roast: Omni
Notes of: Grapefruit, black tea and honey

We sourced this coffee through Mercanta Coffee Hunters who had the following to share:

Nestled in the steep mountains of El Tambo, Nariño, Finca La Cumbre is a family-owned specialty coffee farm managed by Bibiana Mena, Diego López and their daughter, Isabela López Mena. The family has cultivated coffee on these Andean slopes for many
years, combining traditional knowledge with continuous innovation to produce fully traceable, high-quality coffees.
The farm spans 50 hectares, with 28 hectares dedicated to coffee production across five distinct micro-lots: Montesillo, Loma Verde, Cidral, Casa Vieja and La Cumbre. Situated between 1,750 and 2,100 metres above sea level, each lot benefits from its own combination of altitude, aspect and microclimate, contributing to the exceptional quality associated with Nariño.
The steep terrain makes mechanisation impossible, so all coffee is selectively handpicked. To improve efficiency and protect cherry quality, the family has installed an aerial cable car system (góndola or tarabita) that transports freshly harvested cherries and farm supplies between the hillside plots and the on-farm processing station.
The farm cultivates Caturra, Típica, Colombia, Cenicafé 1 and Castillo Tambo. While
Castillo Tambo is the predominant regional variety due to its resistance to coffee leaf rust, maintaining a diverse range of varieties helps preserve resilience and cup complexity. To address increasing climate variability, the family combines resistant varieties with integrated crop management, biological pest control and careful monitoring of tree health.

About Processing
Coffee is selectively hand-picked through multiple harvest passes, ensuring that only fully ripe cherries are collected. Cherries are transported to the on-farm wet mill via the cable car system before undergoing flotation sorting, where under-ripe, damaged and low density cherries are removed. The selected cherries are pulped using a mechanical disc pulper before fermenting in covered concrete tanks for approximately 12 hours. Fermentation is monitored using the traditional tactile method, after which the parchment is washed with clean mountain water through three wash cycles and given a final eight-hour soak before drying.
Drying is adapted to weather conditions using a combination of sun-drying patios,
parabolic solar dryers and multi-level African-style raised beds. Throughout drying,
parchment is turned regularly and carefully inspected to ensure even moisture reduction and consistent quality before storage and export.

Stewardship and Community
Environmental stewardship is central to the family's farming philosophy. Around 15–20% of the farm is permanently protected as conservation land, preserving native forest, riparian buffer zones and wildlife habitats while safeguarding local water sources.
Soil fertility is maintained through on-farm vermicompost and composted coffee pulp,
supplemented where required by carefully calibrated mineral fertilisers. Weed control is
carried out entirely by hand, while coffee berry borer is managed through biological
control using Beauveria bassiana, alongside rigorous field sanitation and selective
harvesting practices.
The family continually renovates the farm by renewing 10–15% of coffee trees each year using traditional zoca pruning. Replacement seedlings are raised in the farm nursery from carefully selected mother trees, ensuring continued adaptation to the local environment.
Finca La Cumbre also places strong emphasis on worker welfare. Employees are recruited locally from the El Tambo community, receive wages above Colombia's agricultural minimum, and are provided with meals, appropriate equipment and clear safety procedures suited to the farm's steep terrain. 

Looking ahead, the family plans to expand its drying infrastructure, introduce solar
energy for wet mill operations, increase compost production and further develop
agroforestry systems with additional native tree species, strengthening the long-term
sustainability of the farm.