The Family Farm · Since MDCCCLXXX

Finca La Tesalia

Five generations on the same land.

04°31′N75°41′W

The path through the cacao plantation at Finca La Tesalia, pink-flushed pods clustered low on the trunks, the cordillera ridge faint in the distance.

I · The Land

Vereda Marmato

Above Armenia, in the Quindío highlands. Volcanic loam, cool nights, slow ripening. The cacao grows alongside the coffee — the same soil that has fed our family for five generations. Nothing leaves the mountain without passing through our hands.

Latitude

04°31′N

Longitude

75°41′W

Elevation

1,200 m

Climate

Tropical highland · 18–24°C

Soil

Volcanic loam · chemical-free

Coffee

Pink Bourbon · regrowing

Cacao

Trinitario · year-round

Stewardship

MDCCCLXXX → MMXXVI

Five Generations,One Bloodline.

II · The Bloodline

MDCCCLXXX → MMXXVI

Generation I — The founding

The 1880s. Florez settlers help open the Quindío highlands for coffee. Spanish lineage by way of grandmother. The land is claimed not by deed but by clearing, by patience, by staying.

Generation II — Building the farm

Tesalia takes shape. Drying patios laid. Mule paths cut into the cordillera. The first cacao trees planted alongside the coffee — a hedge against the markets, a gift for the soil.

Generation III — Surviving

Through the violencia, through the coffee crashes, through every reason to sell and leave. The land stays in the family because the family stays on the land. There is no other plan.

Generation IV — Dedication

Our grandfather hands the farm to our father. The cacao deepens. The fermentation method is refined — seven days, banana-leaf wraps, no shortcuts. The recipe is oral, the discipline is written in the calluses.

Generation V — Stewardship

Our father runs Tesalia today. Pink Bourbon is regrowing. The cacao goes year-round to chocolatiers and roasters who care. We do not own this land. We are passing through.

III · The Cacao Journey

Harvest

The pick

Trinitario pods cut by hand from the trunk. Ripe when the skin turns gold-rose. Hauled to the open-air patio by mule.

Three Trinitario cacao pods on cacao leaves — two whole, one cut open showing the white pulp and beans inside.

Crack

Open the pod

Each pod split by hand with a wooden mallet. White pulp wraps every bean — the source of all the fermentation flavor to come.

Ferment

Seven days

Wet beans into wooden boxes wrapped in banana leaves. Turned once a day for seven days. The leaves carry the wild yeasts. No starter cultures.

Wet beans

Mid-ferment

Day three. The pulp begins to liquefy. Temperature climbs. The room smells like vinegar and ripe fruit. This is when the chocolate begins.

A single Trinitario cacao tree mid-harvest at Finca La Tesalia, pods clustered along the trunk in the dappled understory light.

Dry

Sun and time

Beans spread on the patio. Hand-turned every hour through the day. Two weeks under the equatorial sun before they're ready to leave the mountain.

Finished chocolate bars cooling in their molds, the surface still glossy, the air still warm from the temper.

Bar

Bean to bar

The same hands that fermented the beans turn them into chocolate. Stone-ground in small batches. The recipe is one ingredient short of secret — and that one is sugar.

IV · The Coffee Future

Pink Bourbon, regrowing.

We paused coffee while we focused on cacao. The Pink Bourbon trees are being re-established now, row by row, at 1,900 meters. Bourbon Rosado is a natural cross of Red and Yellow Bourbon — the cherries ripen pink, the cup carries roses and honey.

Heritage farming is patient. We will have our own harvest when the trees are ready. Not before.

Seedling nursery at Finca La Tesalia — young coffee plants in their first year, lined in shaded rows.

Our father with the family and crew gathered at the soil pit on Finca La Tesalia — checkered shirt, the next generation of cacao trees behind them.

V · The Steward

The Steward

Our father runs Tesalia today. He learned the farm from his father, who learned it from his. He turns the fermentation boxes by hand. He walks the rows at sunrise. When the cacao leaves the mountain, it leaves through him.

EET-96 cacao variety training session at Finca La Tesalia — agronomic instruction in the field, beans and pods spread for inspection.

VI · The Agronomy

EET-96 training.

Our cacao varieties are CCN, FSV, and FEAR — Trinitario selections grafted for disease resistance and cup complexity. Soil tested chemical-free. Continuous agronomic training with neighboring fincas. We farm the way our grandfathers did — with the tools and knowledge of our grandchildren.

VII · The Visit

Come to the mountain.

Roasters, chocolatiers, and the rare few are welcome at Tesalia during harvest. Inquire about visiting, or join the cosecha and we will write you when the next lot is ready.

Trade Inquiries

For roasters and chocolatiers — sample requests, volume estimates, and visit scheduling.

Open the trade page →

Harvest Notes

Lot drops, fermentation reports, and the regrowing Pink Bourbon timeline.

FLÓREZ

04°31′N75°41′W

Finca La Tesalia · Vereda Marmato · Armenia · Quindío · Colombia