Jhon Rodríguez
Third generation at Finca Río Negro, and the first to treat fermentation as a measurement problem.
- Farm or site
- Finca Río Negro
- Region
- La Esperanza, San Adolfo, Huila
- Country
- Colombia
Jhon Rodríguez is the third generation to work Finca Río Negro, and the first to treat fermentation as a measurement problem.
The farm exists because of a migration. In the 1960s and 70s, Jhon's grandparents left the Eje Cafetero, the Quindío, Risaralda and Caldas belt where nearly all Colombian coffee grew at the time, and came south to Huila looking for land. They were teenagers. They arrived with their parents, bought a parcel in the vereda La Esperanza above San Adolfo, and started over. Jhon's father took it on next and held it together through decades that were not kind to smallholders. Jhon grew up watching that.
Today Río Negro is 18 hectares at 1,700 meters, producing roughly 30,000 kilos of parchment a year, most of it specialty. The old Caturra, Colombia and Común plantings have been steadily replaced: Pink Bourbon, Bourbon Ají, Tabi, Yellow Bourbon, Ombigón, and Red Bourbon.
What sets Jhon apart is how he got good. His first attempts at fermentation did not work, so rather than keep guessing he went and studied. Three courses with the biologist Julián Cucuñame on fermentation chemistry and food safety, then in-person training with Enrique López at Finca El Chelín in Mexico. He came back with protocols instead of hunches, and it shows in every lot that leaves the farm.
Most coffee sold as experimental is fermented on a timer. Jhon's is fermented on instruments, and that is the reason he can do it again next harvest.
The farm exists because of a migration. In the 1960s and 70s, Jhon's grandparents left the Eje Cafetero, the Quindío, Risaralda and Caldas belt where nearly all Colombian coffee grew at the time, and came south to Huila looking for land. They were teenagers. They arrived with their parents, bought a parcel in the vereda La Esperanza above San Adolfo, and started over. Jhon's father took it on next and held it together through decades that were not kind to smallholders. Jhon grew up watching that.
Today Río Negro is 18 hectares at 1,700 meters, producing roughly 30,000 kilos of parchment a year, most of it specialty. The old Caturra, Colombia and Común plantings have been steadily replaced: Pink Bourbon, Bourbon Ají, Tabi, Yellow Bourbon, Ombigón, and Red Bourbon.
What sets Jhon apart is how he got good. His first attempts at fermentation did not work, so rather than keep guessing he went and studied. Three courses with the biologist Julián Cucuñame on fermentation chemistry and food safety, then in-person training with Enrique López at Finca El Chelín in Mexico. He came back with protocols instead of hunches, and it shows in every lot that leaves the farm.
Most coffee sold as experimental is fermented on a timer. Jhon's is fermented on instruments, and that is the reason he can do it again next harvest.
