Hacienda La Florida, Sozoranga, Ecuador — Honey CM Yellow Catucaí * – “A distinctive and remarkable award-winning experimental lot crafted by our long-standing friend Fabricio Coronel”. Juniper, yuzu, rosemary. Sophisticated and intricate with nuanced floral citrus acidity, mouthwatering texture, and a refreshing herbaceous aromatics. This lot consists entirely of Yellow Catucaí, harvested from March to July 2024. The cherries are transported to the farm’s washing station for selection and pulping. Subsequently, the parchment coffee is placed in stainless steel tanks that have been sterilised with vinegar. These tanks are then sealed, filled with CO2, and transferred to a temperature-controlled environment for four days, maintaining a temperature between 21 and 22 degrees Celsius. During this period, the tanks are agitated three times daily to ensure uniform maceration of the beans. Once the coffee’s average pH reaches 3.8, the cherries are pulped and proceed to the second fermentation stage, where the parchment coffee ferments with its mucilage in plastic tanks for two days. The drying phase occurs in a dark room for 25 days until the humidity level drops to 10.7%. The 2020 Taza Dorada winners in Ecuador and the coffee used by the 2021 Brewers Cup World Champion, La Florida, is managed by the Coronel family, exemplifying a sustainable integrated farm that produces exceptional coffees. They are skilled agriculturalists, cultivating sugar cane, fruits, and vegetables, as well as raising pigs and tilapia fish on their land. The Coronel family employs an agroforestry system on the farm, emphasising the importance of soil health. They firmly believe that soil, tailored to the plants’ requirements and the surrounding environment, is essential for achieving superior cup quality. Hacienda La Florida was acquired by the Coronel family in 1993, and they share that it was originally a Spanish hacienda during colonial times and an indigenous settlement prior to that. The region experiences a warm and dry climate, which shifts dramatically during the rainy season, resulting in significant precipitation. The farm is bordered by a primary forest that boasts a rich biodiversity, including orchids, civets, armadillos, deer, and pumas, many of which are frequently observed on the farm. In early 2023, the farm experienced severe flooding due to an exceptionally intense rainy season, causing the adjacent river to rise several meters, destroying the access road and six tilapia pools. Ramiro and his younger brother Fabrizio, both agricultural engineers, began cultivating coffee in 2014 after being introduced to specialty coffee cultivation through a government initiative aimed at revitalising coffee production in the country. Since receiving this initial support, La Florida has progressed independently towards sustainable, high-quality agriculture.