Fidencio Castillo (Colombia)

 Mango, Guava, Crisp, Pink Lemonade 

Origin Colombia
Region Nariño
Producer Fidencio Castillo
Variety Caturra & Colombia
Elevation 2,200 masl
Processing Fermented Honey

250g

Fidencio Castillo has been a coffee producer for many years, but only recently has he begun to focus on specialty coffee. This shift in focus has been encouraged by his daughter, Francy Castillo, an emerging star of specialty coffee’s new generation. Mammoth Coffee Company has purchased Francy’s coffee in 2022 and 2023, and we’re thrilled to be offering Fidencio’s for the first time.

Fidencio and his wife, Esmeralda Guerrero, have five daughters. The family is located in a relatively isolated part of Nariño, and there is no electricity on the farm. They are currently exploring options to bring electricity to the farm, including negotiating with neighbors to bring in electrical infrastructure, or investing in a cable car to move coffee more easily up to the road to take it to their home.

After picking ripe coffee cherries, the cherries are left intact for an initial fermentation (the fermentation process begins with native bacteria entering through the point where the cherry was picked), before depulping the coffee. With limited funds for a generator, Fidencio must remove the pulp from the coffee cherries by cranking his de-pulper by hand, a process that can take up to eight hours.

The coffee is then fermented in sealed pickle barrels in a low-oxygen environment for around 24 hours. This extra step means Fidencio’s coffee is a “fermented honey” (not all honey process coffees are fermented). This fermentation adds complexity to the cup. The coffee, still with mucilage intact, is then left to dry for 3-4 weeks.