Guzman

Elkin Guzman cultivates coffee on 31 hectares at Finca El Mirador in Palestina, Huila. Huila’s high altitudes and fertile soils provide excellent growing conditions for cultivating specialty coffee. In order to further differentiate his coffees, Elkin has been experimenting with innovative processing methods, such as this Catiope Anaerobic Natural.

This lot is comprised of the Catiope variety. Elkin obtained Catiope seeds from an experimental farm in Cauca over a decade ago. The variety is the result of a cross between Caturra and an Ethiopian local landrace variety.

Elkin calls this lot “Pink Champagne” for its refined flavors and delicate florals. It exhibits the soft and delicate notes of a range of red fruits and has a sparkling finish reminiscent of rosé champagne.

Before harvest, Elkin creates a “mother culture” from microorganisms including lactobacillus and saccharomyces cerevisiae. These microorganisms are fermented anaerobically before adding fruits like strawberries and blueberries.

Once picked, the coffee cherry is hand sorted, floated to remove underripes and then placed in sealed plastic drums with the “mother culture” to ferment. The cherry ferments for 140 hours. Following fermentation, the cherry is laid to sundry, they rake the cherries 4 to 6 times per day to ensure even drying which takes approximately 12 to 18 days.