About the Coffee This coffee comes from around 200 smallholder producers farming in the shadow of the Galeras Volcano in Nariño, Colombia. Nariño sits in the southwest of the country, close to the Ecuadorian border, and its high-altitude terrain produces some of Colombia's most consistently clean and structured washed coffees. The Galeras lot is a community effort, built by pooling harvests from farms across the region into a single, well-defined blend that reflects the area's growing reputation. After picking, each lot goes through a 25-hour fermentation before being transferred to parabolic dryers, which use a tunnel-shaped plastic covering to trap heat and regulate airflow. This slows and controls the drying process, resulting in a more even moisture loss across the bean. The approach requires more attention than open sun drying, but it produces greater consistency from bag to bag. The Caturra and Castillo varieties grown here are both well-suited to washed processing, lending themselves to the clean, structured cup this region is known for. Monogram has been working with producers in this area for several years. More farmers have joined the program over time, which has helped raise consistency and shared knowledge across the community. The combination of careful fermentation and controlled drying reflects how seriously the producers approach their side of the process. About Monogram Monogram was started in Calgary by three friends, Ben Put, Justin Eyford, and Jeremy Ho, who met while working as baristas. They came from different backgrounds, music, health sciences, and development, but shared an interest in specialty coffee and a frustration with how inaccessible it often felt. They launched Monogram to make good coffee more approachable, starting out with a hand-built coffee cart before opening their first cafe in the Altadore neighbourhood in 2014. Ben Put has won the Canadian National Barista Championship seven times and placed third at the 2025 World Barista Championship. That competitive background informs how Monogram approaches roasting: they look for a specific point in the roast where sweetness and clarity are both present, avoiding the extremes of underdeveloped or over-roasted coffee. Their sourcing leans on long-term producer relationships, including farms like Finca Takesi in Bolivia, Finca Deborah in Panama, and Daterra in Brazil.
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