Colombia — Aponte Village Inga Community Field Blend (Red Honey)

Tastes Like — 🍎 Honeycrisp Apple • 🍒 Cherry • 🍦 Vanilla • 🥭 Papaya

DETAILS

• Producers: Inga community smallholders, Aponte Village (Juanambuú canyon)
• Region: Aponte, Nariño, Colombia
• Varietal: Field Blend
• Process: Red Honey
• Altitude: 2,100 masl
• Harvest: April
• Cup Score: 86.5
• Roast Profile: Light (Agtron #128)

INTRO
A perennial standout from the Inga producers of Aponte, capturing the highland precision and structured sweetness that have made the village a fixture in Onyx's annual sourcing. Richly sweet, with a vivid red fruit note threading through caramelised sugars. In the cup: Honeycrisp apple, cherry, vanilla, and papaya.

THE PRODUCER
It takes a village to produce this macro-lot. Each year Onyx works with Pedro at Pergamino Coffee to cup single-producer lots and build a large Aponte lot to fit the region's best cup profile. This year they cupped 38 single-producer lots and selected 18 for the full-container offering, using only lots scoring above 86 on the SCA form. All the producers live in the Juanambuú canyon and belong to the indigenous Inga community, whose history reaches back to the Inca Empire. The land is communal, ruled by a cabildo of elders who uphold ancestral laws and traditions.

THE PROCESS
Unconventionally processed as a red honey, the coffee undergoes partial drying prior to depulping, a technique that intensifies fruit esters and gives a plush texture. The pectin layer stays on the seed, which then dries on covered raised beds for an average of 15 days. In this region, the heavy, cold winds crossing the canyon allow an even, fast drying of seeds still covered in mucilage. The process is delicate and, done poorly, can produce vinegar notes; done well, it gives an intense ripe red fruit profile of cherries and strawberries.

The partial pre-drying with mucilage intact is the defining step. It's what intensifies the fruit esters and builds the plush texture behind the red fruit and caramelised sweetness.

THE CUP
Richly sweet and plush: Honeycrisp apple and cherry lead, with vanilla and a papaya finish.

Flavour Notes
🍎 Honeycrisp Apple 🍒 Cherry 🍦 Vanilla 🥭 Papaya