Fresh, Family Beans

Discover fresh Colombian coffee, right in Eatonville

Story and photos by Rick Stedman

If you’re interested in trying Colombian coffee, you don’t need to travel 4,100 miles to Bogota to do so. Instead, you can simply contact Casa de Cafés in Eatonville.

Owned and operated by Michael and Norma Hyatt, Casa de Cafés does not offer a storefront. Thanks to social media and word-of-mouth advertising, customer service is more personalized and Michael hand-delivers all coffee orders to Eatonville-area
customers.

How It Began
Michael and Norma have owned a 7-acre farm in Colombia for a few decades.

“Norma, who’s originally from Colombia’s capital, Bogota, had the house built for her parents in the hills of Guateque, about 70 miles northeast of Bogota,” Michael says.

On that same property seven years ago, Michael and Norma started a micro-coffee farm.

“Today, it’s a family-run coffee farm, with no middleman involved,” Michael says.

While there is plenty of coffee grown and distributed throughout the world, Colombian coffee stands out. One of the main reasons for its success rides on the shoulders of
the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation. The nonprofit organization was founded in 1927 and promotes the production and export of Colombian coffee. Its popular 1960’s Juan Valdez marketing campaign featured the fictitious coffee grower touting his famous slogan: “100% Colombian coffee, the richest coffee in the world.”

Today, the federation represents more than 540,000 producers, most of whom are small family-owned farms such as Michael and Norma’s.

The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation developed the Castillo variety of coffee bean. Castillo makes up roughly 40% of all coffee grown in Colombia, including Michael and Norma’s 5 acres of trees.

On the Farm
Many coffee farms in Colombia are at high elevation. Michael and Norma’s farm sits at 6,000 feet above sea level. The farm has 5,000 Castillo variety trees

“These are dwarfed trees that stand less than 6 feet tall, and usually have a generous crop yield,” Michael says.

The trees are rotated on an annual basis, so the flavor varies slightly from year to year as well. The most recent harvest yielded beans that had a hint of caramel and brown sugar.

“Last year’s crop, however, had accents of white chocolate,” Michael says.

Those subtle differences from year to year are a direct result of annual tree replacement. To ensure good quality coffee every year, they replace one in five trees.

“After about five years, they don’t produce as well or as plentiful,” Michael says. “So, we annually replace 1,000 trees, while the other 4,000 trees are growing coffee beans.”

The altitude also has an effect on their flavor. Altitude impacts water availability and air temperature. These factors create more complex flavors than coffee grown at lower elevations.

“We do not spray any chemicals or use pesticides or anything to enhance the coffee’s growth,” Michael says. “We do feed our coffee trees with organic compost, and that’s all. The result is our silky-smooth coffee.”

Others agree. The many reviews on the company’s Facebook page echo his opinion. Casa de Cafés’ coffee beans are also tested annually by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation.

This year’s crop received an 86% approval rate, which translates to an excellent premium Colombian coffee rating.

“In supporting our family-owned coffee farm, we have been blessed with this amazing coffee,” Michael says. “We are proud to share this gift with our friends and family here in the greater Eatonville area. And it benefits our family members back in Colombia, too.”

Casa de Cafés’ yield this year was 600 pounds of premium coffee. Each bag the store sells weighs 500 grams, or 17.6 ounces, and sells for $25. While some international coffees take up to two months to arrive on local supermarket shelves, Casa de Cafés’ premium coffee takes just five days from the time it’s packaged until its delivered to the Hyatt house in Eatonville. 

For more information or if you’re interested in placing an order, visit
facebook.com/casadecafes or call Casa de Cafés at 253-844-6008