Most coffee brands do the same thing: they buy beans from intermediaries, roast them, and package them with a pretty story on the label. The true origin of the coffee – the farm, the hands that harvested it, the process that defined its flavor – remains invisible.
At Green Hills, it works differently. Our farm, Hacienda Las Mercedes, in the mountains of Antioquia, is the starting point for everything that reaches your cup. No intermediaries. No compromises.
This is the complete journey.
1. Planting – choosing well from the beginning
It all starts with the right variety in the right lot. At Las Mercedes, we primarily work with tall-growing varieties adapted to our altitude – between 1,600 and 1,900 meters above sea level – where the cool nights and daytime luminosity create ideal conditions for developing complex sugars in the bean.
Each lot on the farm has its own microclimate. Knowing them allows us to decide which variety goes in each part of the land, not the other way around.
2. Hand harvesting – only the fruit at its exact point
Coffee does not ripen all at once. On the same tree, you can find green, partially ripe, and fully ripe fruits simultaneously. This is why mechanized harvesting – which clears everything – destroys the potential of specialty coffee.
At Las Mercedes, we harvest by hand, pass by pass, selecting only the fruits at their exact point of red ripeness. It's slower, more expensive, and there's no shortcut. But it's the only way to guarantee that what enters the process is the best from the tree.
3. Processing – where the flavor profile is born
Once harvested, the coffee fruit goes through processing: the process of separating the pulp from the bean and preparing it for drying. This stage is where the final flavor profile is largely defined.
At Green Hills, we use three distinct methods, each with a different result in the cup:
- Washed – the pulp and mucilage are removed with water. The result is a clean, bright coffee, where the origin and variety speak clearly. This is the process of our Tradition.
- Honey – the pulp is removed, but part of the mucilage is left to dry on the bean. This layer of natural sugar – the "honey" that gives it its name – provides sweetness and notes of yellow fruits and caramel.
- Natural – the entire fruit is dried in the sun for weeks. The fermentation within the fruit itself generates intense flavors: red fruits, wine, tropical notes.
Producing all three processes on the same farm, with the same base bean, allows us to demonstrate something few can: that the process matters as much as the origin.
4. Drying – the patience that cannot be rushed
After processing, the coffee is spread on elevated African beds – drying screens that allow air circulation on all sides – and left to dry in the sun and mountain wind for days or weeks, depending on the process.
Slow and controlled drying preserves the aromatic compounds of the bean. Industrial drying at high temperatures destroys them. There's no way to recover them afterward.
5. Hulling and selection – eliminating everything that isn't perfect
Once dry, the bean goes through hulling: the last protective layer (parchment) is removed, and the coffee is ready to be classified. At this stage, defective beans, irregularly sized ones, or those that did not pass the process as expected are manually removed.
What is not good does not get the Green Hills label.
6. Artisan roasting – the final decision
Roasting is where the hundreds of aromatic compounds we perceive as flavor are developed. It's also where all previous work can be ruined if done incorrectly.
We roast in small batches, with roasting curves specifically designed for each coffee. A lighter roast to highlight the acidity and fruit of the Natural. A medium roast for the balance of the Tradition. Each profile has its protocol.
Industrial dark roast that masks flavor with bitterness has no place here.
Why vertical integration changes everything in the cup
When a brand controls every step of the process – what the industry calls vertical integration – it has something that no intermediary can offer: complete responsibility for what's in your cup.
If something goes wrong, we know it before anyone else. If we want to experiment with a new process, we do it without asking permission. If we want to guarantee that the coffee you bought has a specialty SCA score, we can prove it with documentation.
We don't rely on someone else to do their job well, because that someone is us.
The best entry point to the Green Hills world is our Tradition Coffee: washed process, dark chocolate notes, and balanced body. The coffee that best represents what happens when every step of the process is in the same hands.
