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Elder is such a cool guy and so aligned with our views on quality. I love working with him. Elder story is long (see below), but I’m going to distill it quickly for you here. When he started in coffee, he was told to plant catimor (not a very good coffee varietal) in his amazing piece of land. When I met him, I actually liked his catimor and started buying it. But I always felt that his farm has too high potential to be planted with catimor. I brought Elder Geisha seeds from Panama (from the Hartmann) and suggested he plant some of them in his farm. He then proceeded to rip out the entire catimor planted and replant the farm with Panama Geisha. If you’re not used to coffee production, this move is VERY bold, since it left him with no income from his farm for nearly three years! While we waited for his Geisha to grow, I told Elder that I would buy his Parainema from another small farm of his. I asked him to experiment with different processing methods, as I was not too fond of the traditionally washed Parainema. He did a bunch of failed experiments until he nailed the honey processed Parainema (this coffee). I was instantly drawn to the heavy body, deep sweetness and gentle fruit profile of the coffee.
OK, if you made this far, thank you. And, if you want to learn more about Elder, read on!
The tiny producing region of Santa Barbara is very special. When it comes to coffees grown here, it’s not a question of whether they will be good or bad, but just how good they will be! This region is responsible for over 50% of the Cup of Excellence finalists in the country! We have been working in Santa Barbara since 2012 and during one of my visits in 2014, I met Elder Chavez and since then, Elder has become one of my favourite coffee people!
In 2015, our first year working with Elder, we only purchased a tiny lot of Catimor, but I made arrangements to purchase his entire harvest starting in 2016. Yes, you read that right, Catimor! It was by far the best Catimor I have ever tried, but yet the quality dipped over time, and although it was still great for a Catimor, Elder wanted to produce top notch coffee.
In 2017, Elder was able to invest in his processing. His de-pulping and fermentation are pretty standard for the region: a dry fermentation for 28-36 hours in tiled tanks. On the drying side, we financed a portion of Elder’s drying structures, which he built using a spec based on ample airflow and drying under shade.
Elder has three farms. The first Finca Los Pinos is planted with Parainema around 1400m. The second one, Finca El Canion, sits in a stunning forest around 1650m and has Geisha and Ethiopia Heirloom. Finally, the largest one, Finca El Mirador, sits on the top of the hill around 1800m high. This lot comes from Finca Los Pinos.
Finca El Mirador was originally planted with Catimor. Elder desperately wanted his coffee to be the best. So, in 2020, he made the bold move to replant his entire upper farm with geisha. This move is one of the things I love about Elder. He was tired of seeing lower scores on the cupping table and simply replanted in one go, rather than preserving some income from the farm by replanting only a portion.
Elder’s potential has always been unquestionable. Now, after eight years of working with him, it’s clear that he can consistently convert that potential into tasty coffee, and I know that in the years to come he will be a force to be reckoned with.
- Sebastian
