Manhattan – El Paseo 250g | Colombia

Until about 2015 Huver Castillo was teaching maths in a school in Nariño. He is a third-generation coffee grower, but working with coffee properly is a recent thing for him. Finca El Paseo sits near Buesaco on the Suma Paz trail, on slopes looking out over the valley, with native shade trees standing through it. The family have held it for more than twenty years and it is one of three farms they own; Huver works it alongside his father.

The Caturra is picked only when fully ripe. It is held in cherry for a 36-hour pre-fermentation, then floated and disinfected in a 2% sea salt solution before going into stainless steel tanks for six days of controlled anaerobic fermentation. Collected leachates and selected enzymes are added during that stage to draw out the floral side of the coffee. Drying is mechanical and deliberately cool, below 38°C, over two or three days, after which the coffee is left to stabilise for a further fifteen.

Violet, lychee and dragon fruit, with a smooth mouthfeel.

Freshly roasted by Manhattan Coffee Roasters in Rotterdam and imported to the UK by ROAST EDIT Co.