Origin Story
This coffee embodies Intelligentsia’s collaborative approach to innovation in the name of quality. Over a decade ago, Malacara’s fourth-generation owner Guillermo “Epe” Álvarez decided to diversify the varieties on his family’s farm to expand the range of flavors it produced. We helped him access SL-28 seed from Kenya and waited patiently for years until it started to bear fruit. We have had the honor of offering it every year since it came into production, and 2023 marks a milestone — 10 years since the first lot of Malacara SL-28. To mark the occasion, we collaborated with Epe in the same spirit of quality-focused innovation that led to the planting of the SL-28 in the first place: we agreed to double the fermentation time from 24 to 48 hours, producing a distinctive cup profile.
