Origin: Arboleda, Nariño, Colombia.

Producers: Fidencio Castillo

Process: Anaerobic Honey

Varieties: Caturra, Castillo

Altitude: 2036masl

Importer: Apex Coffee

Roast: Light

Notes: Cherry Pie, Yellow Pear, Red Clover, Chocolate Raspberry

Transparency - We paid Apex Coffee $7.88 usd / lb + shipping.

Fidencio Castillo, El Pedregal

We're so pleased to introduce a new-to-us producer, Fidencio Castillo! A long time producer out of the Nariño region in Colombia. The Castillo's are the epitome of excellence in family coffee production, with his whole family working together to grow the family farm.

This isn't the first time we've worked with the Castillo Family, as some of you might recognize his daughter's name Francy Castillo, as one of the first coffees we bought, roasted, and released back in 2022!

I(sonny) love coffee from Nariño, it's a region that I fell in love with very early on in my coffee life. Arboleda is a super unique region boasting super high altitudes ( El Pedregal clocking 2036 meters above sea level), though it was often thought to be too cool for coffee production. This cooler weather, and abundance of natural resources, like the Juanambú stream, ended up making it the perfect place for high-quality coffees.

Similar to wine making, coffee cherry production benefits from diurnal ranges, giving warmer temperatures in the day for ripening, and cooler temperatures at night to slow it down and promote complex flavours. This can also benefit the fermentation stage of coffee, as too quick of a fermentation can lead to off flavours.

Before processing Fidencio makes sure to use only fully ripe cherries, using a brix meter to check their sugar levels to guarantee their development. He then floats the cherries to remove any duds, and then puts the cherry's in bag to ferment for up to two days. After this he partially de-pulps the cherries, leaving some skin intact. Fidencio then puts the wet-honey'd cherry back in bags for a 100-hour anaerobic fermentation.

The coffee is then dried in stages, beginning at the farm, and ending on raised beds near Fidencio's house. The total process takes roughly 25-30 days, or until the coffee reaches a moisture level of 10-11%. The coffee is then stored hermetically before being taken to the mill for further processing.

We find this coffee such an interesting cup. Combining the processes of gentle anaerobic fermentation, and extended honey-style drying brings out a lot of unique flavours in this coffee! We get big juicy cherry pie filling, with a soft ripe yellow pear acidity, a touch of fresh red clover, all wrapped in big choco-covered-raspberry vibes. This coffee is big sweet and super fun, not as processy-heavy in flavour as some of our potions, but we kinda like that.