Palermo Colombia — Huila Natural Coffee, Cerquera Family
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Four generations of a family in the heart of Colombian Huila. A terroir, a farm, a signature: the story of Palermo.
Huila — the great Colombian terroir
If Colombia is a coffee nation, Huila is its soul. Located in the southwest of the country, this region benefits from a globally recognized appellation of origin, and has seen many farms win the prestigious Colombian Cup of Excellence.
Huila owes its excellence to a rare balance: fertile volcanic soils, high altitude, and exceptional climatic diversity. It is here, in the highlands, that producers cultivate the country's most complex coffees — often on modest farms, between 1 and 5 hectares, on a human scale.
The Cerquera family — a sixty-year legacy
In the heart of the municipality of Palermo, in the village of San Pedro, Finca La Lindosa belongs to the Cerquera family. Four generations have been cultivating coffee there with expertise passed down for over sixty years.
Although the current farm is only twenty-five years old, it perpetuates a tradition born in Teruel, a neighboring municipality, where the family began cultivating coffee in the 1960s. Today, five permanent workers and nearly one hundred and fifty pickers participate in the harvest each year. Plots are renewed every seven years, following agronomic recommendations to preserve the resistance and quality of the plants.
Here, coffee is not just a product. It's family pride, a legacy, a vision for the future.
Castillo — the variety of Colombia's future
Cultivated between 1,600 and 1,800 meters of altitude, the variety here is Castillo — an Arabica variety developed by Cenicafé, the Colombian coffee research center. Selected for its disease resistance and cup quality, it has allowed a whole generation of Colombian producers to modernize their operations without sacrificing the excellence of the fruit.
In Huila, at this altitude, Castillo expresses itself with a natural sweetness and fruity roundness that make it one of the world's most generous varieties.
Natural process — the intensity of the fruit
What distinguishes Palermo is its natural process. Instead of being washed immediately after harvest — the classic method in Colombia — the cherries are dried whole, with their pulp.
This processing allows the fruit's sugars to penetrate the bean during drying, naturally intensifying the aromas. The result: a cup that is fruitier, rounder, and denser than a washed coffee. A modern signature, halfway between Colombian tradition and the new schools of specialty coffee.
At the Cerquera farm, drying combines open-air and mechanical dryers to ensure exemplary consistency, lot after lot. A rare rigor that places their production among the best micro-lots in the country.
In the cup — the fruity generosity of Huila
Palermo opens with notes of ripe fruit — blackberry compote, black plum, candied prune — which glide towards a dark chocolate depth, balanced by a honey and brown sugar sweetness. The acidity is round, almost enveloping. The body is full, silky, without heaviness.
It is an exceptionally versatile coffee. It reveals all its generosity in a filter, where its aromas spread in successive layers. In espresso, it offers a dense and chocolatey expression, perfect for lovers of gourmet cups.
More than a coffee — a transmission
Palermo is the story of a family that has never stopped learning. Four generations of Cerquera, a land in Huila, a variety of the future, a process mastered down to the last degree. It's Colombia at its most authentic: both rooted and modern, proud and demanding.
Every cup is a journey to San Pedro, to the lands of Finca La Lindosa.