El Placer - Washed Castillo | Colombia

Colombia — Jesús Antonio Saavedra El Placer Castillo (Classic Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍇 Grape • 🫐 Blackcurrant • 🍓 White Strawberry

DETAILS

• Producer: Jesús Antonio Saavedra
• Farm: El Placer
• Region: Tolima, Colombia
• Varietal: Castillo
• Process: Classic Washed
• Altitude: 2100 MASL
• Size: 250g

INTRO

Castillo is a hybrid cultivar as a result of crossbreeding the Arabica and Catimor cultivars, and was originally produced as a disease resistant varietal. Whilst Castillo is mainly known for its amount of production and coffee pickers friendly low height trees, it's also recognised that Castillo sometimes outperforms Arabica coffees in some regions when it's treated exclusively.

THE PRODUCER

Many Castillo varietal lots have marked top 10 in many green beans competitions including Cup of Excellence. El Placer Castillo, produced by Jesús Saavedra, has also been acknowledged for its another level quality driven by the super high grown terroir in Tolima, Colombia. We are honoured to bring this top notch Castillo home as our 2nd purchase from Jesús Alberto.

Jesús Antonio Saavedra farms El Placer at 2100 metres above sea level in Tolima, Colombia. The extreme altitude combined with meticulous processing demonstrates that Castillo, when treated exclusively in exceptional terroir, can produce coffees that rival and even outperform traditional Arabica varieties.

THE PROCESS

The Classic Washed process at El Placer involves:

• 🍒 Cherry Selection — Careful picking at peak ripeness
• 🔧 De-Pulping — Mechanical removal of skin and mucilage
• 💧 Fermentation — Traditional wet fermentation
• 🚿 Washing — Thorough washing in clean water
• ☀️ Drying — Careful drying
• 🏔️ Super High Grown — 2100 MASL

This classic washed process applied to Castillo at extreme altitude creates another level quality driven by the super high grown terroir in Tolima.

THE CUP

A plethora of sweet fruit tones. We found a juicy grape acidity, followed by ripe blackcurrant notes, with underlying sweetness of white strawberries throughout. Top notch Castillo that demonstrates how this disease-resistant hybrid can outperform traditional Arabica when treated exclusively in exceptional high-altitude terroir. Our 2nd purchase from Jesús Antonio Saavedra.

Flavour Notes

• 🍇 Grape
• 🫐 Blackcurrant
• 🍓 White Strawberry

What is the roast recency?

We recommend brewing with beans that are at least two weeks off roast. All beans are roasted to peak flavour at around 6-12 weeks. We have the option to either purchase standard beans (at least 2 weeks but no longer than 6 weeks off roast), or rested beans (at least 7 weeks off roast, no longer than 12 - should we have any left in stock!). For peak flavour, if you are looking to use immediately, we recommend purchasing the rested beans. If you are adding to your rotation of beans, we recommend purchasing the standard and allowing the beans to naturally rest and mature whilst you rotate through other beans.

What does 'Filter' or 'Espresso' Roast mean?

Typically filter is roasted lighter than espresso, though this is not always the case. Several factors play into what brands a Manhattan coffee as 'filter' or 'espresso', which includes the roast profile - i.e. how the beans are roasted, not just how developed a roast it is. It doesn't preclude you from using the beans for espresso though!