Origin: The Quindío Region

Finca El Encanto sits in the municipality of Filandia, in Colombia's Quindío department — one of three states forming the celebrated Eje Cafetero, or Coffee Axis. Despite being Colombia's second smallest department, Quindío accounts for approximately 6% of national coffee production and has earned UNESCO World Heritage status alongside neighbouring Risaralda and Caldas for its coffee-growing cultural landscape.

The region's volcanic soils, derived from centuries of Andean activity, provide extraordinary mineral richness. Altitudes across the department range from 1,200 to 1,800 metres above sea level, while consistent rainfall and cool temperatures slow the ripening of coffee cherries, encouraging a more complex development of sugars and organic acids. For the Gesha variety — famed for its delicate florality and tea-like clarity — these conditions are close to ideal.

Filandia itself is a small colonial town known for its artisan crafts and traditional bahareque architecture. The surrounding hills, draped in wax palms and native forest, create a landscape that remains largely intact. It is into this environment that Daisy and Fredy Acevedo rooted their project in 2017.

The Producers: Daisy and Fredy Acevedo

Daisy and Fredy Acevedo are second-generation coffee producers whose story is inseparable from the history of Gesha's rise in the specialty world. The two met while working in Panama during the early years of Gesha's global breakthrough — a period that began in 2002 when Hacienda La Esmeralda's Gesha lot caused a sensation at the Best of Panama competition, fetching unprecedented prices and reshaping the global specialty market.

Inspired by what they witnessed firsthand, the couple set out to bring Panama Gesha seed stock back to Colombia. Daisy's academic background as a biologist proved essential: her training in natural resource management and conservation gave her a deep understanding of how genetics, soil health, and forest ecology interact to shape cup quality. The seeds they collected — sourced from original Panama Gesha stock, with provenance closely guarded — were first planted on a trial plot at the farm of Daisy's father, Gustavo, in the Risaralda department.

The results from those early plantings were immediately striking. Roasters from La Cabra in Denmark and other internationally respected buyers made the journey to Gustavo's farm after word spread through specialty circles. The cup quality was undeniable. In 2017, Daisy and Fredy formalised their vision by purchasing Finca El Encanto in Filandia, Quindío — bringing their seed stock with them and building the infrastructure to scale a world-class operation.

"One of the most beautiful farms we have visited, located on the borders of a nature reserve, stretching down to a mountain river." — La Cabra Coffee, Copenhagen

The Farm: Land, Forest, and Conservation

Finca El Encanto spans approximately 15 hectares in total, but the production footprint is intentionally small. Around 4 hectares are planted with Gesha — approximately 6,000 trees — grown entirely under shade from native species. A further 6 hectares carry the rust-resistant Castillo variety, and 5 hectares are maintained as native forest, functioning as both a biodiversity corridor and a water catchment area.

Daisy's conservation instincts shape every decision on the farm. The property borders a natural reserve and descends toward a mountain river; protecting this ecosystem is as much a part of El Encanto's identity as the coffee itself. The shade canopy of rare native trees regulates temperature, retains soil moisture, and supports the native flora that Daisy has documented with scientific care.

The farm employs five permanent workers alongside the Acevedo family — a workforce Daisy and Fredy have been able to expand as the reputation of El Encanto has grown. A cupping lab has been installed adjacent to the farmhouse, giving the family a direct quality feedback loop without depending on external evaluators for every lot decision.

Processing equipment from Penagos — typically more common in Costa Rica and Brazil than in Colombia — provides a high degree of control over cherry separation and pulping. This precision, combined with careful fermentation protocols, allows El Encanto to achieve a consistency in cup quality that distinguishes it from most Colombian producers.

The Variety: Gesha — A Panama Connection

The Gesha variety (often spelled Geisha) traces its origins to the Gesha forest in southwestern Ethiopia, from where seeds were brought to the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Costa Rica in the 1950s, and subsequently to Panama. For decades the variety languished in Panama as a low-yielding, disease-susceptible plant of little commercial interest — until its sensory qualities were properly recognised in the early 2000s.

The Gesha cultivated at El Encanto is described as genetically closer to the original Panama Gesha accession rather than to some Colombian Gesha trees that have undergone cross-pollination over generations. This genetic purity is one reason roasters describe El Encanto's lots with particular reverence: the aromatic potential — intensely floral, fragrant with jasmine and lemongrass, supported by a delicate citrus structure — is expressed with uncommon clarity.

Alongside Gesha, the farm grows Castillo — a disease-resistant Colombian hybrid developed by Cenicafé — providing agronomic resilience while the more vulnerable Gesha vines are given the careful attention they require.

Processing: Washed and Natural Protocols

Washed Process

El Encanto's washed lots are harvested with extreme selectivity, accepting only fully ripe cherries. After picking, the fruit rests for up to 48 hours in sacks or closed containers, allowing a slow, pre-pulping fermentation that begins to build complexity. Cherries are then pulped and sorted by density before undergoing dry fermentation in sealed steel tanks for approximately 72 hours. The parchment is washed clean and dried slowly, preserving the clarity and floral intensity that defines the variety. Some lots undergo an initial 24-hour whole-cherry rest before pulping, followed by open-air dry fermentation of around 48 hours.

Natural Process

For natural lots, in-husk fermentation takes place in closed tanks for approximately 48 hours. The coffee is then mechanically dried for 72 hours with a mid-process rest period of eight hours before drying is completed. This extended, controlled process produces fruit-forward profiles while retaining structural clarity.

Recognition and the Specialty Market

El Encanto has attracted some of the most respected specialty buyers in the world. La Cabra (Copenhagen), Scenery Coffee (London), Alinea Coffee Roasters, and A Matter of Concrete are among the roasters who have repeatedly purchased lots and documented the farm in detail. The export route runs through LaReb — La Real Expedición Botánica — a Colombian export collective whose mission is to decolonise the supply chain and rebalance the power dynamics between producing and consuming countries.

The farm's recognition by internationally ranked roasters who source exclusively at the top end of the specialty spectrum underscores its position. Lot scores, while variable year to year, consistently land in the high-80s to low-90s on specialty grading scales.

The Eje Cafetero Context: A UNESCO Heritage Landscape

Quindío, where El Encanto is located, forms part of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia — a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognised in 2011. The designation covers approximately 141 municipalities across Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda, and Valle del Cauca, encompassing a living cultural tradition in which coffee growing has shaped architecture, gastronomy, and social life across generations.

The region's towns, including Filandia, preserve colonial facades and plazas that reflect the coffee-growing identity of their communities. The National Coffee Park in Quindío — a theme park built around the history and process of coffee production — draws hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, making the department one of Colombia's foremost destinations for agricultural tourism.

For Finca El Encanto, this heritage is not merely backdrop but context: the farm sits at the intersection of deep cultural tradition and leading-edge specialty production, embodying both at once.

Brew Guide

El Encanto Gesha rewards careful attention to extraction parameters. Given the variety's natural aromatics and delicate structure, lighter roasts and precise temperature control make the most of what the coffee offers.

Why El Encanto Matters

Finca El Encanto is not simply a well-run farm producing a prestigious variety. It represents a specific kind of specialty coffee project — one built on scientific rigour, conservation ethics, supply chain transparency, and a genuine migration story. Daisy and Fredy Acevedo chose to return to Colombia, chose Filandia, chose shade-grown Gesha, and chose a decolonised export route — each decision pointing in the same direction.

The result is a coffee that tastes of intention. Every lot from El Encanto carries the accumulated knowledge of years spent in Panama's specialty farms, the conservation training of a biologist who studies native species, and the terroir of a UNESCO-recognised landscape at high altitude. For the specialty coffee drinker, it is one of Colombia's most compelling single-origin experiences — a true expression of place, people, and process.