El Zacatin (Colombia)

 Cherry Roll Up, Sweet Lime, Wild, Ruby Port 

Origin Colombia
Region Confordia, Antioquia
Producer Eduardo Fernandez-Restrepo
Variety Tabi
Elevation 2,100 masl
Processing Natural

250g

Eduardo Fernadez-Restrepo’s farm, El Zacatin, is named after a local craft liquor manufacturer founded in the town of Concordia in the early 1920s. El Zacatin is a family-owned farm of 17 hectares situated in the highlands of Colombia’s southwest Antioquia department. The farm rests along the western slopes of the Cordillera mountains, overlooking the Cauca river valley.

Eduardo acquired Tabi seeds through an agronomist in Antioquia, and El Zacatin currently produces around 3 thousand kilos (6,600 lbs) of Tabi coffee. This particular lot of Natural process Tabi was selectively handpicked, sorted by hand to remove unripe cherries and then floated for additional quality sorting (in which “floaters,” the less desirable cherries, were removed). The coffee was then placed into a tank for 48 hours of aerobic fermentation, followed by sealing the tanks for 24 hours of anaerobic fermentation. The cherries are then spread out onto raised beds for 30 days to dry until the moisture content reaches 11%.

As a result of this intensive processing method, this single-variety Tabi has a refined sweetness and acidity, and an intense and exciting aromatic profile. Sweet cherry paste, reminiscent of fruit roll ups, is apparent upon first sip. As the coffee cools, it gives way to a pleasing lime acidity, with a depth and complexity similar to Ruby Port
Wine.