Colombia El Mirador 250 g

Profile

Acidity ⬤⬤⬤ Sweetness ⬤⬤⬤ Bitterness ⬤⬤○

Altitude

1550 -1750 m.a.s.l.

Origin

Colombia

Process

Natural Dark Room

Region

Huila

Variety

Catiope

El Mirador — the farm of Elkin Guzman, whose family has been producing coffee for over 70 years. And 12 of them with particular dedication to processing technologies research. El Mirador is located in the municipality of Palestine, in the village of El Portal, in the vicinity of the Pompeii Reserve in the valley of the Magdalena River. The region has sandy-loam and clayloam soils with good conditions of organic matter that help to provide excellent nutrition to coffee plants. The farm area is 31 hectares, most of which are planted with exotic coffee varieties such as Catiope, Mokka, Tabi, Geisha, Orange, Striped and Pink Bourbon. 2 ha is occupied by Caturra, which is used for processing experiments. Coffee cultivation at El Mirador is managed under semi-shade systems to optimize the regulation of temperature and the effect of photosynthesis in coffee trees. Elkin has standardized the workflow and processing procedures used at this farm to ensure consistency and quality control at each step. He provides immaculate attention to details and innovative approaches to fermentation including multiple processing techniques such as Coffee Maceration, Lactic and Acetic Natural process. NATURAL DARK ROOM FERMENTATION FThe idea of this process is to optimize the drying environment providing continuous drying around the clock under the control of humidity and temperature. This is achieved by using dehumidifying equipment for the extraction of moisture as well as extractors and fans to regulate the internal temperature of the dryer that is as airtight as possible. This environment allows the producer to lower the humidity by 1.5 % during the day and between o.6 and 1 % at night, with a constant drying time between 12 to 15 days. As a result, the coffees present great cleanliness and different notes to any traditional drying system. The coffees are arranged in beds and baskets enabling the producer to handle more drying volume per area. The idea of the coffees dried here is to intervene in the shortest fermentation time, where the terroir and the genetics of the variety can be expressed. For this reason, Elkin uses short fermentation periods of between 36 and 48 hours, where the cherry is disinfected in water with citric acid and a water temperature of 25 ̊C - 35 ̊C.