Colombia Sebastian Gomez Castillo Washed - Filter Roast

COUNTRY - Colombia
REGION - Circasia, Quindio
ALTITUDE - 1700 M.A.S.L
VARIETAL - Castillo
PROCESSING METHOD - Washed

SEBASTIAN GOMEZ
Sebastian comes from a traditional coffee family. He along with his father owns La Divisa Farm, a 13-hectare farm, located at 1.700, in Circasia, Quindío. On the farm, they have some beautiful shade trees such as Guamo, Guayacan, Gualandai, and Nogal.

WASHED PROCESS
After the coffee cherries have been picked, the cherries are depulped (skin removed) or demucilaged (skin and pulp removed).
The coffees are typically then held in “fermentation tanks” for 12–72 hours, allowing for a gentle controlled fermentation to cause any remaining pulp to separate from the beans. Fermentation may occur from the moment of harvest until the seeds reach an inhospitable moisture content for them (11% moisture)
The beans are finally dried for up to 15 days on patios, raised beds, or in parabolic dryers until the ideal moisture content is reached.
Typically washed coffees have clean, articulate flavours; caramel or sugary sweetness; a wide spectrum of fruit acidity depending on other factors; capable of bright, crisp notes.

CASTILLO
Developed over five generations, Castillo is the most common coffee variety grown in Colombia.
Carefully created for its resistance to leaf rust, Castillo is a hybrid variety that now makes up 40% of Colombia’s coffee crops. It is a “dwarfed” tree that can be planted in high density, resulting in generous crop yields.
That being said, some in the specialty coffee sector consider Castillo to be lower quality than other varieties as it shares a genetic heritage with robusta beans.
Before Castillo was introduced, Caturra was the most widely found coffee variety in Colombia. However, Caturra plants are highly susceptible to coffee leaf rust, also known as la Roya. Coffee leaf rust prevents plants from photosynthesising, which can quickly kill the entire tree and may reduce crop yield by up to 70% in severe cases.
In 1938, Colombia established the National Coffee Research Centre called Cenicafé. Researchers worked to improve the genetics in Colombian coffee to help with productivity and disease resistance in crops.
Named after researcher Jamie Castillo, the Castillo coffee variety was released for production in 2005. It is the result of the successful hybridisation of Caturra with the Timor Hybrid.
So far, seven additional cultivars have been developed from Castillo, each trying to retain the cup quality of Cattura and the disease resistance from the Timor Hybrid.