200g

Colombia - Castillo
Region – Armenia, Quindío
Producer - Jairo Arcila, Santa Mónica farm
Variety - Castillo
Process - Honey, 72h Anaerobic with Cinnamon
Altitude - 1450-1500m

Santa Mónica sits in the hills around Armenia, in the heart of Colombia’s coffee region. The farm grows on volcanic ash soil, plenty of water and warm days give the cherries everything they need to ripen full and sweet.

Castillo is Colombia’s own variety. Developed by the national coffee research centre Cenicafé and released in 2005, it was created to save farmers from coffee leaf rust, a disease that wiped out harvests across the country. Today it is one of the most widely grown coffees in Colombia. It’s usually known as a clean, balanced coffee, which makes what Jairo did with it even more surprising.

This is an experimental lot. Only the ripest cherries were picked and floated to remove any defects. Then the whole cherries, pulp still on, went into sealed tanks for 72 hours of anaerobic fermentation, together with cinnamon. During those three days, the cinnamon’s oils and aromas blend into the sticky mucilage around the bean. After fermentation, the cherries were pulped but the mucilage was left on (the “honey”), and the coffee dried slowly on raised beds for 11 days.

The result tastes exactly like it sounds: cinnamon buns, powdered sugar and chocolate. Warm, sweet and comforting. A playful and unusual one, and a perfect pick for the cold season. We recommend it for filter use, It's light roasted.