Oh my god they’re back again — give it up for YEAR THREE with El Alto! This is a crisp, balanced, jack-of-all-trades coffee that’s given us tremendous comfort each time it’s graced the menu. This year, though the character is presenting itself a little bit differently in the cup, it’s definitely upholding that sweet sweet reputation. 

El Alto is operated by Hector Osorio + Adriana Aldana, who are members of the La Victoria Producers’ Association in Huila, Colombia. La Victoria is a key relationship for The Coffee Quest, our importing partner, as a stronghold source of coffees that represent everything from macro blends to medium-sized community snapshots to single-farm micro lots. In Huila, all of these quality and traceability tiers yield superbly chuggable coffees. It’s a little lame, lazy, and inappropriate to compare coffee and wine, but I can’t help it — Huila brings some of the trappings of modern Beaujolais to our coffee-drinking culture à la mode. It’s that good good, that all day every day, that reinvigoration of epic old haunts, that HIGH CEILING HIGH FLOOR, etc. It’s all that. Nowadays, a coffee program without a Huila or two seems obnoxiously contrarian, and it’s coffees like this that show you why.

In years past, we’ve described this coffee as CARAMEL CITY, like straight-up Werther’s Original, with zesty citrus sprinkled on top. This year, that mix of goopy sweetness and bright fruit lives on, but it’s been elevated and aerated, like perfect panna cotta, with a fruit character that’s a little chewier and spicier. It’s the riser/shiner that can be so hard to find on the dark chilly mornings we’ll be waking up to for the next few months, and thank goodness for that.