What does Natural Hydro-Honey mean?
Natural Hydro-Honey is the description of a fermentation process that was developed by the famous Elkin Guzman.
Elkin Guzman is a specialty coffee farmer in the town of Pitalito in Huila, Colombia. His 31 hectares farm is named, El Mirador and it 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, and experimentation, and is something of a data nerd, especially when it comes to unlocking the secrets to top-quality coffee.
In the world of differentiated coffees, Elkin and his team have been experimenting and evaluating variables that help improve the quality of the coffees they handle to offer an excellent drink for coffee consumers worldwide for more than 13 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.
Natural Hydro-Honey Process
At El Mirador Farm, the Natural Hydro-Honey is a 3-step process: The first step is for the coffee to be dried and left to ferment for a period of 8 to 12 days for its natural phase.
After the natural phase, the coffee is then taken to tanks with water, in order to humidify the cherry and rehydrate the skin for 24 to 36 hours.
The last phase is to de-pulp the cherries and to take them for the honey phase of drying, this cycle has a duration of 15-20 days.
Elkin believes that this process gives the coffee the caramel and chocolate notes of the natural process without being too harsh and with the sweetness and floral notes of the honey process – making this an ideal process for those who enjoy washed coffees and are not yet ready for fully natural coffees.
We have the following Natural Hydro-Honey coffees available;
Reference:
Elkin Guzman: El Mirador, Pitalito, Huila.