Mario Porfirio Gamez

Finca El Encanto
Producer: Mario Porfirio Gámez Rodriguez
Altitude: 1,570 MASL
Variety: Catuaí,Caturra, Pacas
Processing: Natural
Harvest: December to March
Location: El Cerrón, Marcala

Producer Histroy
Porfirio Gámez Rodríguez grew up surrounded by coffee. Since he was little he observed his father and grandfather work in the farm. He is the third generation in his family dedicated to coffee production. His grandfather started the tradition in the year 1930.

He became a member of COMSA in 2014 and began the implementation of organic agriculture with support of the cooperative. In 2014 he also begins the the implementation of the 5M proposal, minding the needs of the soil and of coffee trees, in order to have a sustainable and environnmentally friendly production.

Porfirio began growing coffee in 1980 with the knowledge he had learned from both his father and grandfather. Since then he has been growing coffee at his own farm, developing his methods in processing, from depulping to drying, and allowing himself to experiment every year in order to improve the quality profile of his coffee. 

At Finca El Encanto, Porfirio is joined by his wife and children in the work. His children also continue in the tradition with his same passion, with the objective to produce quality coffee. This is something he leaned from his father and grandfather. 

Mario Porfirio ensures that al production practices are environmentally friendly. He also hope to  diversify his production, having planted numerous fruit trees.

Natural Processing
This process is very short. It requires that coffee be picked very selectively, ensuring only ripe cherries are chosen. Once selected, the cherries are laid out to dry in a raised covered drying table where temperature is modulated so that the coffee can be dried slowly. In this process coffee is moved constantly to avoid the development of mold that might cause defects in the taste profile.

This drying process can take up to 30 days, depending on climate conditions. Once the target moisture of 12% is reached, the dried cherries are placed in bags to be transported to the COMSA warehouse.