COLOMBIA, El Mirador, Pitalito, Huila

Producer: Elkin Guzman.

Growing altitude: 1680m above sea level.

Botanical variety: Tabi.

Process: Honey.

Tasting notes: Caramel, walnut, vanilla, five spice, peach, grapefruit flavours.

Roast date: 16 May, 2023

This special lot of Tabi is harvested and produced at El Mirador, located in the town of Pitalito in Huila, Colombia.

El Mirador is a 32-hectare farm with 30 hectares of coffee, owned by Elkin Guzman. The farm includes a broad collection of varieties such as Catiope, Mokka, Gesha, Bourbon, Caturra and Tabi, which is a variety developed and released in 2020 in Colombia by Cenicafe by crossing the varietals; Bourbon, Typica and the Timor Hybrid.

Elkin Guzman has been surrounded by coffee since he was born and today, he has been recognized as one of the best multigenerational coffee producers in Colombia in the last decade. He is very passionate and interested in his scientific approach to coffee production. He is inspired by methodical research, experimentation, and is something of a data nerd, especially when it comes to unlocking the secrets to top-quality coffee.

Elkin’s family has celebrated over 70 years in coffee, and for 15 years, Elkin has been dedicated to researching and developing post-harvest processing techniques. All this research and experience has brought Elkin to develop multiple processing techniques depending on an individual lot of coffee, including Carbonic Maceration, Lactic and Acetic Natural processes, and Natural Hydro Honey.

Harvest and post-harvest procedures are highly regulated for consistency and quality. The first step is to measure the sugar content of the coffee cherries (in degrees Brix), followed by density and volumetric separation. The final decision is which processing method is best suited to bring each lot to its fullest potential.

In the case of this lot, the team at El Mirador chose the honey process.

The selected cherries were deposited into plastic bins for a period of time between 96 – 120 hours, for fermentation. The cherries were then pulped and taken to the dry beds under canopies where it was dried as honey. The drying phase took up to 18-25 days, which resulted in a fruity and well balanced coffee.