Sandbox - Los Patios Cherry Co-Ferment | Colombia

Colombia — Los Patios Castillo (Cherry Co-Fermented)

Tastes Like — 🍒 Cherry • 🍬 Candy • 🍦 Vanilla

DETAILS

• Producer: Los Patios (The Coffee Quest)
• Region: Huila, Colombia
• Varietal: Castillo
• Process: Cherry Co-Fermented
• Elevation: 1,600–1,900 masl
• Harvest: 2025
• Roast Profile: Omniroast

INTRO Cherry Co-fermented Castillo from Los Patios in La Plata, Huila — intense cherry and ripe red fruit dominate the nose, giving way to a candy-sweet body with a soft vanilla undertone. Gentle, low acidity lets the sweetness carry through to a clean, fruit-forward finish. In the cup: cherry, candy, and vanilla.

THE PRODUCER Los Patios is a dedicated coffee processing and research facility operated by The Coffee Quest in La Plata, Huila, established in June 2022 to support smallholder producers by addressing processing challenges, market volatility, and infrastructure gaps. The facility works with local farms averaging around three hectares, sourcing cherry-stage coffee and elevating it through controlled, research-driven processes developed by an in-house R&D team.

Castillo is Colombia's most widely grown coffee variety, developed by Cenicafé and released in 2005 — a cross between Caturra and the Timor Hybrid, bred primarily for strong resistance to coffee leaf rust. Compact and high-yielding, it's practical across diverse altitudes and climates, and when carefully grown and processed can deliver a smooth body, clean sweetness, and a flavour range spanning citrus brightness to rich red fruit depth.

THE PROCESS Co-fermentation at Los Patios begins at farm level, where local producers carry out a 12-hour aerobic fermentation in cherry before depulping and delivering the wet parchment to the facility. There, the R&D team introduces a commercial cherry concentrate alongside a proprietary solution, and the coffee undergoes a two-day fermentation and absorption phase, during which fruit precursors integrate into the beans. After draining, the coffee dries on patios for 12 to 16 days, monitored and rotated continuously for even moisture removal.

The two-day cherry concentrate absorption phase is the defining step — it's what builds the intense cherry and candy sweetness that define this cup, with a soft vanilla undertone layered underneath.

THE CUP Sweet and candy-like — intense cherry and ripe red fruit dominate the nose, giving way to a candy-sweet body with a soft vanilla undertone. Gentle, low acidity carries through to a clean, fruit-forward finish.

Flavour Notes 🍒 Cherry 🍬 Candy 🍦 Vanilla