Colombian Coffee, From Our Family to Yours

It started with a phone call from Uncle Felipe.

Santiago was born in Colombia and spent his childhood there, and that is the real reason The Colombian exists. Being Colombian himself gives us something most companies in this space simply do not have: a deep, personal connection to the land and the people who grow our coffee. It is why we care so much about the producers at origin, and why we want people here to experience Colombian specialty coffee the way it is meant to be felt, with all the warmth and hospitality of Colombian culture.

In 2016 our coffee adventure began. Co-founders Santiago Lopez and Kristin Panylyk de Lopez visited Santiago's home country of Colombia at the insistence of his Uncle Felipe, who had purchased a coffee farm alongside his wife, Gloria, and wanted help bringing his beans to Canada. Santiago had left the country years earlier due to the conflicts, so it was his first visit back in many years.

After visiting the family farm, Finca Santa Rita, Santiago and Kristin quickly fell in love with all things coffee, and upon returning home to Edmonton, started The Colombian. That first season, they attended over 100 farmers' market dates, where they introduced Edmonton to their family coffee, known at the time as "Santa Rita."

Today, as The Colombian has grown to seven brick and mortar locations, we continue to support our Uncle Felipe and Aunt Gloria and buy their production each year. We decided on the name "La Familia" to represent that this is our family's coffee, as it translates to "The Family."

Better every year, on purpose.

Felipe and Gloria have done so much work on the farm to make it better each year. The farm is 18 hectares, with half reserved for conservation. Felipe is deeply passionate about conservation and does not spray the coffee crops for bugs because of it. These conservation efforts allow habitat for bees, birds, wolves, and armadillos to flourish on the farm.

Felipe grows four different varietals of coffee at the farm: Castillo, CeniCafé, Tabi, and Gesha. They have a wet mill, drying beds, and a mechanical dryer where they process the coffee after picking. Year round, they employ a farm manager and his family, and during harvest season, up to 15 pickers.

They have learned through trial and error how to produce specialty coffee. This has allowed us to learn what it takes to make delicious coffee in Colombia, and it is thanks to this connection that we at The Colombian have a very different approach to how we source and buy coffee. It is not just about the coffee, it is about the relationships we are able to build with producers.