Green Hills Coffee: One Farm, Six Lots, No Middlemen

Almost every bag of Colombian coffee on a US shelf has passed through four companies before anyone roasted it: a mill, an exporter, an importer and a roaster. Each one is competent, each one adds a margin, and each one has a commercial reason to combine lots into larger, more uniform volumes.

Green Hills is built the other way. One family farm does the growing, the processing, the milling and the roasting, and sells the result directly. This is what that looks like in practice, and what it costs.

The farm

Hacienda Las Mercedes is in Ciudad Bolívar, Antioquia, in the Farallones del Citará, at 5,900 ft (1,800 m). Four generations of the same family have farmed it.

Everything happens on site: planting, harvest, fermentation, drying on raised beds, hulling and roasting. Cherries are picked entirely by hand across six selective passes, so only fruit at peak ripeness enters a lot. Orders are roasted after they are placed and ship within 48 hours, anywhere in the US. Shipping is calculated at checkout.

The step-by-step version is in from tree to cup.

Why the structure is the product

Vertical integration sounds like a business detail. In coffee it is a flavor decision, for three reasons.

There is no blending step. In a normal chain, a mill processes coffee from many farms and an importer aggregates lots to reach commercial volumes. Both are reasonable, and both erase the distinctions that make a single lot worth buying. Here there is nothing else in the building to blend with.

The person roasting saw the harvest. A roast profile is a set of decisions about a specific bean: how dense it is, how it dried, what the fermentation did. A roaster working from a sack and a spec sheet is guessing well. A roaster who watched the drying beds that week is not guessing.

Mistakes are traceable. If a lot cups badly, the cause is a decision made by someone on this farm on a known day — a pass taken too early, a bed turned too little, a fermentation run too long. That feedback loop is what improves a harvest year over year, and it does not exist when the grower never tastes the roasted result.

The six lots

Each in an 8.5 oz (240 g) bag, whole bean or ground for a specific method, all from the same hillside at 5,900 ft (1,800 m).

• Tradition — $14.99. Washed. Tangerine, caramel, subtle florals. The most versatile lot: it works in every method, from espresso to French press, and it is the right first bag.
• Honey — $16.99. Honey process. Honey, peach, spices. V60, AeroPress or cold brew.
• Natural — $19.99. Natural process, Castillo and Caturra. Chocolate, red berries, wild strawberry. Filter methods, or a full-bodied cold brew.
• Silver — $26.99. Honey process. Coconut, vanilla, white fruits. V60 or Chemex; as espresso it makes a dessert-like shot.
• Bronze — $26.99. Honey with an extended, controlled maceration. Macerated fruit, panela, ripe grape. Pour-over for the winey notes, French press for body.
• Gold — $36.99. A limited blend of Geisha, Java and Wush Wush from the best plots, roasted medium-light. Hibiscus, jasmine, subtle red fruits. V60.

Three of these are honey-process lots that taste nothing alike, which is the clearest argument that fermentation time and plot selection matter as much as method. We compare the premium three in Gold, Silver or Bronze.

What this does not give you

Being honest about the limits is more useful than another paragraph about passion.

• No breadth. A farm offers what it grew. If you want an Ethiopian this month and a Guatemalan next month, a multi-origin roaster serves you better.
• No year-round identical bag. Harvests differ. A lot will taste slightly different from one crop to the next, because it is agriculture rather than manufacturing.
• Not the cheapest coffee you can buy. Six selective passes and weeks of drying cost what they cost. If coffee is a caffeine routine for you, a commodity blend is the rational purchase and we would rather say so.

Who this is for

If you own a burr grinder and brew with any control at all — a ratio, a timer, water off the boil — you are equipped to taste what the six passes and the slow drying paid for. If you do not, fix the grinder first: it will improve your coffee more than upgrading beans will. We say the same thing in is specialty coffee worth it.

Frequently asked questions

Do you ship to the United States?

Yes, anywhere in the US. Orders are roasted after they are placed and ship within 48 hours. Shipping is calculated at checkout.

Is the coffee single origin?

It is single farm, which is narrower than single origin. Every lot comes from Hacienda Las Mercedes. Gold is the one exception in composition: it blends three varietals, but all of them are grown on the same farm.

Whole bean or ground?

Whole bean if you own a burr grinder. If not, choose the grind for your brewer at checkout — fine for espresso and moka, medium for V60, Chemex, AeroPress and drip, coarse for French press and cold brew.

Which lot should I start with?

Tradition. It is washed, balanced and the most forgiving across methods, which makes it the clearest reference point for everything else in the range.

How long does the coffee stay good?

Whole bean, sealed and kept cool and dark: about a month at its best. Ground: two to three weeks. See how to store specialty coffee.

Start here

All six lots are in the specialty coffee collection, roasted after you order.