Florescencia (Huila)

About the Coffee

Florescencia is a group of 40 women producers working within the Association of Ecoterra in Huila, Colombia. They cultivate coffee across four municipalities: Pitalito, San Agustin, Oporapa, and Saladoblanco, each on small individual farms of just a few acres. The association itself consists of between 100 and 145 smallholder families who hold organic certification and farm at elevations up to 2,200 meters. Organizing collectively was a practical necessity. Individually, these farms are too small to access international markets. Together, they can.

The group operates with community leaders in each area who help coordinate across the network and maintain a traceable community blend with a consistent regional profile. During harvest, producers follow a strict picking protocol: cherries are selected at peak ripeness, hand sorted, and floated to remove damaged or underdeveloped beans. From there, coffee is depulped and fermented for up to 70 hours before the parchment-covered seed is washed and moved to patios or raised beds to dry slowly down to 11% moisture. An export company called Mastercol handles warehousing and milling, providing the logistical infrastructure these producers need to get their coffee to buyers outside Colombia.

The association's broader goal is to improve income and living conditions for its members through organic production and expanding access to specialty markets. They grow Caturra, Colombia, and Castillo varieties, and their focus on diversifying processing techniques is part of a longer strategy to strengthen quality and build a more stable business for the families involved.

About Alternate Route

Alternate Route Coffee Co. was started by Ian and Kellie Wahl as a husband-and-wife project based in Alberta, Canada, operating out of a roastery on wheels before finding a permanent home just outside Edmonton near the International Airport. What started as a shared idea grew into a full roasting operation with a tasting lab, coffee bar, and retail space.

Today the company is women-run, women-roasted, and majority women-owned. Kellie Wahl leads the business alongside Head Roaster Corie Sackville. They roast in small batches on a Probat P12 roaster, a German-built drum roaster known for consistency and control. Their sourcing spans Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Ethiopia, with a focus on producers who share their standards around quality and integrity. Florescencia is a natural fit for a roaster where women leading the operation is the norm, not the exception.

"Alternate Route is the first women-owned and operated roaster we've featured, and this month I'm proud to announce every Alternate Route coffee we're featuring is sourced from women coffee producers. I'm particularly excited to share their coffee from Huila, Colombia with you - this is one of my favourite balanced coffees this year."