Camilo Merizalde has been at the forefront of specialty coffee since the early 2000s. He started with his farm in Colombia, Finca Santuario, where he focussed on sustainability, biodiversity, and meticulous processing to improve quality. It proved quite successful, and he has since expanded his operation to Costa Rica, Mexico, and Brazil under the banner of the Santuario Project.
The Ixhuatlán Processing Centre is the hub of the Santuario Project in Mexico. The Centre works with small-holder farmers from the surrounding area and focuses on producing very high-quality specialty lots.
This Red Bourbon lot was processed via a unique take on the honey method, where cherries are pulped and fermented in Mossto (juice from crushed coffee cherries) before being dried on raised beds. The Mossto has a very high sugar content and creates a super sweet and fruity coffee.