Colombia - Narino | Castillo
Origin: Colombia
Region: Nariño
Community: Pasto
Process: Washed
Producer/Farm: Finca Matarredonda – Don Enrique Vasquez and family
Varietals: Castillo
Elevation: 1900+ MASL
Roast Level: Light/Medium
Tasting Profile: Toffee, Maple, Lemonade, Peach, Sweet and Bright
Additional Information:
While we weren’t able to bring in our usual field blend from Finca Matarredonda this past year, which has become a crowd favorite and been a staple on our menus over the years. We are excited to share that we were able to bring in a limited amount of two distinct lot separations of each coffee varietal grown on the farm.
This offering is a Castillo varietal lot separation. The Castillo coffee varietal was actually created in response to combat Caturra’s high susceptibility to coffee leaf rust. It is a hybrid of Caturra and a Timor Hybrid and it is almost exclusively grown in Colombia. While the hopes were to preserve the consistent cup quality that Caturra is known and sought after for, the hybrid Castillo varietal has developed its own unique set of cup characteristics.
The Castillo coffee varietals can have varying degrees of characteristics you will find in the cup, but are generally clean and bright. In comparison to the Caturra lot, we would certainly classify this one as a brighter/crisper variation of the two. The Acidity really shines through on this with a very nice lemonade like acidity punching through the cup, we also find a bit of a toffee like sweetness with some peach and maple in there.
Behind The Coffee:
The Zarama family descends from Spanish army officers who arrived in Nariño during the Colombian Colonial Period. Mr. Jose Antonio and Mrs. Josefina Zarama bought the land in 1900. The only daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Zarama, Ms. Amalia started growing coffee at the hacienda in 1950. Her children and grandchildren followed. Mrs. Amalia´s youngest daughter and today´s owner Mrs. Clemencia and her husband Enrique, put all their attention to maintain Matarredonda and the coffee plantation in optimal conditions. Finca Matarredonda has been in hands of the Family for five generations.
Three generations of the Higidio-Himbajoa family have worked as caretakers of the farm passing on the knowledge of coffee growing. More technical assistance has been applied to the coffee plantation to achieve the best coffee cups with environmentally friendly practices. As a result they have a shade grown, bird friendly, Rainforest Alliance Certified, healthy coffee plantation.
All coffee byproducts are composted and put back into the plantation. Vermiculture is a practice they follow to improve the soil at their coffee nursery. All residual waters from the farm are treated so they don´t contaminate natural sources. Environmentally friendly practices allow diverse species to thrive in the farm next to coffee trees.