COLOMBIA, Elkin Guzman, El Mirador, Pitalito, Huila

Producer: Elkin Guzman.

Growing altitude: 1700m above sea level.

Botanical variety: Orange Bourbon.

Process: Natural Koji Anaerobic.

Tasting notes: Chocolate, raspberry, mango, guava, tropical fruit, umami flavours. 

Roast date: 6 November, 2024

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 Koji Anaerobic Natural. 

Koji is a fungus of the genus Aspergillus, which is used, for example, to ferment sake. Cherries were inoculated with this mushroom in sealed fermentation tanks. Koji is a source of hydrolytic enzymes such as amylase, protease, or lipase responsible for biochemical changes in the product, but also enzymes affecting the taste or smell. 

This lot is comprised of the Orange Bourbon variety. Orange Bourbon has uniform ripening and a sugar content between 20 and 22 degrees according to Brix.   

Elkin’s farm is 31 hectares in size. The farm has nutrient-rich soil that’s sandy loam and clay loam with a good reserve of humus and organic matter. As a result, the coffee trees are well-fed with great nutrition. Coffee is grown under a semi-shade system that helps with temperature regulation and optimizes photosynthesis. Cherry is selectively handpicked and only cherry of the perfect ripeness is used for this process. 

Before harvest, Elkin creates a “mother culture” from microorganisms including lactobacillus and saccharomyces cerevisiae. These microorganisms are fermented anaerobically. Once picked, cherry is hand sorted, floated to remove underripes and then placed in sealed plastic drums with the “mother culture” to ferment. Cherry ferments for 140 hours.

Following fermentation, cherry is laid to sundry. They rake cherry 4 to 6 times per day to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 12 to 18 days for cherry to dry.   

This is a one of a kind coffee processing method, that has to be tried.