When the first shipment arrived a year ago I had no idea what I was getting into! I showed up to the roaster with a bag of coffee still in parchment not knowing a long road lay ahead! Paolo handed me a hammer and said you’re going to remember this for the rest of your life. The first batch was completely hulled by hand mary and I got creative thanks to a few youtube videos we found. tangent- did you know that the majority of the coffee from colombia is also picked by hand? The lots are small and the terrain is tough, too expensive to have machines rolling off the side of the hills.
In 2024, after a few years of bikepacking around New York, I signed up for the craziest race I could find in Colombia — @transcordilleras a 1,000km gravel race crossing of the Andes. I wanted to see more of the country I was born in but had only known through family visits to big cities.
Long story short, I didn’t finish the race. I withdrew on day three, rolled into a small town called Charalá, in Santander, and the next day, with nothing to do, I randomly asked the hostel manager if he knew anyone with a coffee farm.
Origen is what came out of that detour, a direct relationship with a farm, a family, and a place I wasn’t supposed to find. This is the beginning of that story.
Almost harvest time at Oscar’s family farm! I was able to visit during my bike trip through Santander in February when the flowers were blooming. I had never really looked at the coffee flower before the cherries grow. Preeeeeetty cool.
rode up the old croton aqueduct trail with @nomatt ! rode up the west side greenway to get out the city and then its mostly gravel the rest of the way- single track, running trails, backyard trails - paths woven together on top of the still buried underground aqueduct. it’s always a trip to reflect on the impact of clean water on a city! can you believe 50,000 people attended the party for when water reached the city for the first time in 1842 (it was powered by gravity alone!!). Also, the aqueduct led to the construction of the first public water fountain in nyc, wow. anyways i did this same ride exactly a year ago. who’s down for next year?
Tether, 2023
A new site specific piece. Featured at @publicworks_nyc HOMECOMING group exhibition. Grateful to be part of such a unique new media show with such amazing artists and curators
LED and audio programming by @rememberingvictoriosa@touchdesigner
Thanks to @chemistrycreative for the EQ and space to try things out before install 🙏🏻
