Colombia
El Sauce

Washed process Castillo

Flavour: sweet malt, lemon tart, sherbet

Body: Acidity:

We’re happy to bring you another coffee from Colombia’s Nariño department, the part of the country with the highest production of coffee. We’ve shared some great coffees from Nariño in the past 12 months, and this is another favourite (and not just for the name).

At 2000 metres above sea level on the Eastern Andean range and only 100km from the Ecuadorian border, coffee producer Tito Ferney believed that it was possible to produce speciality coffee, and so he created Finca El Sauce. Along with his family, he planted the three hectare farm with Castillo trees.

The Castillo variety was created by the National Centre for Coffee Investigation (CNIC) to combat the leaf rust phenomenon. Since its creation in 2005, it has demonstrated high productivity and an excellent balanced cup.

Tito and his family start to handpick the ripe cherries in May, avoiding the green, yellow and pink ones, which are not yet ready for harvest. Once depulped and fermented for 12 hours, the beans are dried on patios for five days.

During this entire process Tito demonstrates his passion for coffee, carefully monitoring every step of the process. His crops grow in the rich soils which benefit from volcanic ash from the six active volcanoes in the region. He also takes advantage of the abundance of water in the region, keeping his trees strong and ready to produce better coffee every year. This is how he manages to offer the Western Coffee Cooperative such exceptional coffee year in year out.

Sourcing and ingredients

100% Castillo coffee beans, provided by Azahar and roasted by us on Gadigal land / Sydney.

Country grade: Unknown ?

Packaging

Bag: ABA Certified home compostable
Label: Recyclable
Valve (on bags larger than 250g): General waste
Coffee ordered online is shipped in a recyclable cardboard box

Brewing this coffee

We recommend brewing this coffee 15–49 days post-roast. If pre-ground, brew as soon as possible. Our advice on storing coffee.

1:3
dose:yield
ratio

To brew on espresso, we recommend using 20g of beans (dose) to get 60g of espresso out (yield), during 24-28 seconds.

g dose

g yield

View the how to brew espresso (single origin) guide.

1:16.7
beans:water
ratio

To brew in infusion/fed brewers (V60, Chemex) use a ratio of 1:16.7 ratio of beans:water.

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:14.3
beans:water
ratio

To brew in immersion brewers (plunger, AeroPress, Kalita, batch brewer) we recommend using a 1:14.3 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:12
beans:water
ratio

To brew as cold brew we recommend using a 1:12 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

Producer: Tito Verney Ortega
Country: Colombia
Region: Nariño
Altitude: 2000m above sea level
Varietals: Castillo
Process: washed
Harvested: August 2017
Body: Medium
Acidity: Balanced
Tasting notes: Sweet malt, lemon tart, sherbet
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Varietals

Castillo varietal

Castillo is named after the researcher Jamie Castillo, who helped develop the varietal in 2005 by Cenicafe, Colombia’s coffee research centre

The location

Coffee from Colombia

Colombia is one of the largest coffee producers in the world and benefits greatly from having one of the most unique and complex set of micro-climates of all coffee producing nations.

The Nariño region of Colombia

One of the highest growing regions in Colombia, producing some truly complex coffees

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.