The Development History of Saint Ario Manor in Colombia the path chosen by the owner of Saint Ali'o Manor

Saint Ario Manor of Colombia

For many years in Colombia's boutique coffee farm, San Tuareo Manor has been a leader in technology and planting methods in the industry, the soul of which is the manor owner Camilo (Camilo Merizalde). Camilo was born in the Valle de Cauca Valley of Colombia. From an early age, he often went to the coffee farm near his home and watched adults process coffee, until he decided to study in the United States after graduating from high school. When he worked as a manager of a Colombian food and beverage factory in the United States after graduation and often had the opportunity to go back to his hometown of Colombia to buy raw coffee beans, Camilo began to wonder why Colombian coffee could not be compared with Africa and Central America in terms of quality. Colombian coffee is often not considered to be one of the boutique coffee producers. During this period, Camilo began to study and read knowledge and books about coffee planting in the United States, hoping to grow stunning boutique coffee. At the same time, Camilo kept looking for estates with high-quality microclimate in Colombia, until he finally found the best farmland in Colombia's Cauca province in 2000. At this time, Camilo immediately embarked on the transformation of the estate, large and small, ready to realize the ideal coffee farm concept in this manor named San Tuareo (Finca Santuario).

In the first step, Camilo decided to start with the improvement of the soil quality in the manor, by planting a large number of ash leaf plants to provide rich and natural nitrogen, while retaining many native plants and fruit trees to provide a diversified source of nutrients. Camilo then began to analyze the topography of the manor and divided it into 266 different micro-blocks. To make it easier for landowners to track and manage the growth of coffee and changes in microclimate in the park. The second step is to start selecting the coffee varieties to be planted. Camilo made up his mind at the very beginning to choose the native varieties with low yield and good quality, and finally planted the first Tibica coffee tree in November 2002. until today, many excellent varieties have been expanded in the garden of Saint-Tuareo, such as Tibika, brothel, bourbon, pointed Bourbon and so on. Ganzhuang Garden is as high as 1950-2050 meters above sea level, with a large temperature difference between day and night and covered with volcanic ash soil, so it is especially suitable for the cultivation of these delicate varieties. The third step is to build their own washing treatment plant and exposure drying room, and the drying chamber has a lot of very advanced equipment in Colombia. Camilo first installed a large exhaust fan on both sides of the drying chamber. The principle of exhaust fan is used to accelerate air flow, which can not only avoid excessive fermentation of raw beans, but also stably control the temperature of the exposure room. Camilo, with full experimental spirit, has improved the washing equipment in the washing plant through the experience of working with 2015WBC champion Sasa Sestic, using the design of stainless steel buckets and fillets to greatly improve quality stability and sweetness.

After years of hard work, Camilo's first batch of San Tu Ali raw beans were officially exported in 2005, and today they have become the first choice for many contestants. In addition to WBC champion Sasa Sestic, Australian barista champion Matt Perger in 2013 also praised the raw beans of Saint Tu Ali'o and won the second place in WBC World Series by combining with EK43 bean mill that year. Camilo is constantly trying and experimenting with many new ways to improve the quality of coffee in his experience of working with these contestants, and more flavor and unique varieties of the manor are always found in the annual cup test.