Manos Juntas, Espresso - Colombia

Manos Juntas is a micromill in Sotará, high in Colombia's Cauca region, where ocean winds and elevation make it one of the coolest places coffee is grown in the country. Most of the coffee comes from indigenous and Afro-descendant smallholders, farming small plots across rivers, plateaus and volcanic mountains.

Farmers sell ripe cherry to the mill by weight, which rewards picking ripe fruit over rushing the harvest. They are paid upfront, well above market price, before the coffee has dried. Growers don't need their own drying beds or fermentation tanks, and can focus on growing.

This natural Castillo was fermented for five days, anaerobically in sealed tanks, with nitrogen added to keep the yeast working. Each tank was labelled by producer for traceability. Once fermentation was ended, the cherry aged for a few more days, then dried in solar dryers for over a month.

The end result is a cup with tasting notes of passionfruit, lychee and bubblegum, that delivers a boozy, candy-like sweetness.

• Region: Cauca
• Country: Colombia
• Elevation: 1,400 - 2,000 masl
• Variety: Castillo
• Process: Natural