Colombia — Aponte Community Caturra (Honey)

Tastes Like — 🍊 Orange • 🍎 Red Apple • 🍯 Honey

DETAILS

• Producer: Aponte Inga Community — Resguardo Inga Aponte
• Region: Nariño, Colombia
• Varietal: Caturra
• Process: Honey
• Altitude: 2,150 MASL
• Size: 250g

INTRO

From the Inga community of Aponte — descendants of the ancient Inca civilisation, farming Caturra at 2,150 MASL on the volcanic slopes of Galeras Volcano in Nariño. A community that transformed its region from conflict and illicit cultivation into a celebrated specialty coffee story. Dried on raised solar beds with mucilage intact, in a cool, high-altitude climate ideal for slow, even honey processing. In the cup: orange, red apple, and honey.

THE PRODUCER

The Inga community of Aponte lived in relative isolation in Colombia's southern mountains for centuries. In the 1990s, their territory became deeply affected by violence and illegal poppy cultivation linked to armed groups and drug trafficking. Over the following decade, the community made a remarkable transformation — replacing illicit crops with high-quality coffee production, and reclaiming their land and their future through agriculture.

Today, Inga families cultivate Caturra at around 2,150 MASL in the Resguardo Inga Aponte, enriched by the volcanic soils of the active Galeras Volcano. The combination of extreme altitude, volcanic fertility, and the cool Nariño climate produces an exceptionally sweet and complex coffee — and the community's investment in honey processing and raised solar-bed drying infrastructure reflects both their commitment to quality and a responsible approach to water conservation.

Since 2015, Ally Coffee has partnered with the Inga community to support sustainable production and help showcase the resilience and innovation of Nariño's coffee families to the world.

THE PROCESS

The Honey process at Aponte involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Ripe Caturra cherries carefully hand-harvested on small family farms 🔧 Depulping — Outer skin removed while the sweet mucilage layer is left intact on the bean ☀️ Raised solar-bed drying — Coffee dried slowly on stacked raised solar beds with mucilage intact

The cool climate and high altitude of Aponte are the defining step — at 2,150 MASL, the slow, even drying conditions that the Galeras Volcano region provides are ideal for honey processing, reducing water use while building the orange sweetness, red apple brightness, and warm honey body that define this lot.

THE CUP

A sweet, rounded, and beautifully expressive honey Caturra from one of Colombia's most compelling community transformation stories — orange and red apple fruit sweetness with warm honey depth, in a clean, versatile cup that works equally well as a filter or espresso. The Inga community's Aponte, in every sip.

Flavour Notes

🍊 Orange 🍎 Red Apple 🍯 Honey