This Colombian coffee from the Slovak roastery Concept Coffee Roasters features a very lively and juicy profile, built on notes of red fruit, tropical sweetness, and a subtle cocoa finish. The flavor features an explosion of red berries and cherries, balanced by the freshness of tropical fruit and a sophisticated note of cocoa beans. The resulting cup is bold yet clean and smooth, combining fruity intensity with sweet depth. It is a lot that showcases modern processing in an attractive yet still easily recognizable form.
Behind this coffee is Elkin Guzman, who grows coffee on the 31-hectare Finca El Mirador farm in Palestina, Colombia, in the Huila region . The local high altitude and fertile soil create excellent conditions for specialty coffee, and Elkin is known for working intensively with innovative processing methods in addition to cultivation itself. This lot consists of the Catiope variety , a cross between Caturra and a local Ethiopian landrace variety that Elkin obtained more than ten years ago from an experimental farm in Caque. The coffee grows at an altitude of 1,550–1,700 meters above sea level, and its very origin suggests that this is a lot with a very distinctive and experimental character.
Processing is carried out using the Cold Natural method , which Elkin also refers to as cold fermentation. The cherries are first disinfected with a citric acid solution and washed in water to remove unripe fruits. This is followed by 36 hours of oxidation in bags and then another 80 hours of fermentation in baskets in a room at 10 °C. After fermentation, the coffee is dried in parabolic dryers, where it is turned every three hours to ensure even drying, and the entire process takes approximately 35 days. The result is a distinctly fruity, sweet, yet clean coffee, in which the cold fermentation translates into the intensity of red fruit, tropical juiciness, and a subtle cocoa aftertaste.