Elkin Guzman Catiope Anaerobic Natural

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. There is some variation among trees, but most trees are short and can be planted closer together. Catiope has uniform ripening and a sugar content between 20 and 22 degrees according to Brix.  

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.  

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. The average Brix degree for cherry used for this processing is 20 to 24. Elkin provides periodic training for workers to ensure they’re selecting the best cherry for processing.  

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

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.   

Founded by experienced agricultural trader Vicente Mejía, Clearpath Coffee works with producers in Colombia and exports high quality, sustainable single-origin coffees from smallholders, cooperatives and estates. Clearpath partners with producers to support ethical, sustainable growth through fair prices, direct communication with buyers and building long term relationships with sustainability-minded buyers.