Colombia | Santa Monica | Jairo Arcila | Castillo Honey, Passionfruit Co-Ferment

Colombia | Santa Monica | Jairo Arcila | Castillo Honey, Passionfruit Co-Ferment

Upcoming Roast / 160g
$26.00
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Colombia | Santa Monica | Jairo Arcila | Castillo Honey, Passionfruit Co-Ferment

Colombia | Santa Monica | Jairo Arcila | Castillo Honey, Passionfruit Co-Ferment

$153/kg AUD ≈ $2.3 per cup (15g dose)
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This coffee’s roasted in our filter style — meaning it’s designed to shine as black coffee rather than with milk. That doesn’t mean you have to brew it as a pour-over though. You can make it however you like — espresso, moka pot, AeroPress or anything in between. We simply roast it a little lighter to highlight the bean’s origin flavours giving you a cup that’s clean, vibrant and full of clarity.

Lighter roasting keeps more of the natural acidity and sweetness intact which makes for a beautifully expressive black coffee. This coffee is best enjoyed without milk as it’s too acidic and the flavours don’t pair well once milk is added.

If you prefer your milk coffee with richer caramel, toffee or nutty flavours you might enjoy our espresso range more. Those roasts are taken a little darker to bring out deeper sweetness and balance beautifully with milk.

Origin and Sourcing

Varietal: Castillo
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Castillo is a Colombian-developed hybrid, designed for rust resistance and high yield. It includes genetics from Caturra and Timor Hybrid. While early versions were criticized for mediocre cup quality, modern strains can be quite good, with fruit-forward and balanced flavors, especially when grown at high altitudes.
Processing Method: Honey, Co-Ferment passionfruit
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The honey process is a method where coffee cherries are pulped to remove the outer skin, but some of the sticky fruit mucilage is deliberately left on the beans during drying. Depending on how much mucilage is retained, producers may refer to the lot as white, yellow, red, or black honey—each affecting sweetness, acidity, and body. This process offers a flavor profile between washed and natural coffees, combining clean acidity with rounded sweetness and syrupy texture. It requires careful drying control to avoid over-fermentation or mold, making it both labor-intensive and rewarding.
Producer: Jairo Arcila
Farm: Santa Mónica
Region / Area: Quindio
Altitude: 1700–1900 MASL
Sourcing Partner: Cofinet
Coffee Storage: Frozen
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For our exotic coffee, we store all the green beans frozen at -22°C in commercial freezers. This locks in freshness, halting enzymatic reactions that degrade flavor. Upon arrival we separate into small 2-3kg vacuum-sealed lots and freeze so that our greens do not age and we can sell these exotic coffees for years to come or until sold out.

Roast Details

Roast Style: Filter
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Filter roasts are lighter with a shorter development time, designed to highlight clarity, acidity, and fruit-driven complexity — perfect for black coffee and filter methods. These roasts can also be used for espresso, especially if you enjoy brighter, more vibrant shots. Try longer brew ratios or turbo shots to tame acidity and bring out sweetness. Espresso roasts, on the other hand, are developed further to encourage deeper caramelization and Maillard reactions, producing richer, chocolatey, and nutty flavours that shine in milk and offer a fuller-bodied espresso. We don't usually roast omni (one roast for all brew methods) — in our experience, it tends to be a compromise that's average at both. But occasionally, for larger lots or versatile blends, we may do an omni roast to suit both black and milk drinkers.
Roast Level: Light
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This is a more accurate reflection of the actual roast level rather than internal & external colour readings and is based off roasting weight loss %. <11% is Nordic ultra-light; 11–13% is Light with balanced acidity and sweetness; 14–16% is Medium for rounded body and caramel; 16–20% is Dark for rich, chocolatey intensity; 20%+ is Starbucks/Italian for bold, smoky depth. Some would say the higher the %, the 'stronger' the coffee.
Roasting Weight Loss: 11.5%
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Coffee roasting weight loss refers to the significant reduction in the mass of green coffee beans during the roasting process, typically ranging from 9% to 25% depending on the roast level. This phenomenon primarily occurs due to the evaporation of moisture, which constitutes about 9–13% of the bean's initial weight.
Internal Agtron: 103
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This is a more accurate reflection of the actual roast colour than external as it's measured after grinding. Internal Agtron reveals how far into the bean the roast has penetrated. Our filter roasts often score over 100, preserving acidity, florals, and the unique vibrant characteristics of each origin and process. Please bear in mind that grind coarseness can affect the internal colour readings, so it is impossible to compare from roaster to roaster using this colour reading.
External Agtron: 72
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This refers to the surface colour of the whole roasted bean, but it's not always a reliable indicator of roast level. Some of our most vibrant and lightly roasted coffees, like our Ecuadorian Sidra, may appear medium-dark (Agtron 50–60) due to their surface colour, yet are in fact light roasts with minimal development time. Surface colour can be affected by the original green colour, bean type, density, and moisture — so don't judge a bean by its exterior.
Agtron Spread: 31
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The Agtron spread is the difference between the colour of whole beans and ground coffee, showing how deeply the coffee is developed. A spread of 0–10 usually indicates very dark, oily roasts typical of Italian-style, which we don't offer at our Roastery. Spreads between 11–20 and 21–30 represent the roast levels you'll find in our espresso coffees, balancing sweetness, acidity, and body. Spreads above 30 make up most of our filter coffee range, featuring very light, bright roasts that highlight fruity, floral, and complex flavours. Within this, spreads from 31–40 offer clarity and vibrancy, while spreads of 40–50 showcase ultra-light roasts with delicate acidity and nuanced character.
Roasted On Machine: Roest L100 Ultra
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The ROEST L100 Ultra is the most advanced sample roaster in its class, combining the precision of the L100 Plus with next-generation hardware upgrades and new airflow technology. A redesigned, fully perforated drum with reversible rotation introduces a counterflow mode that channels air directly through the bean mass—allowing faster, more efficient heat transfer and enabling lighter roasts or second crack in under 90 seconds. With upgraded 5 GHz Wi-Fi, a faster processor, built-in pressure sensor, and refreshed UI matching the P3000, the Ultra offers better batch consistency (even at 50g), improved airflow calibration, and lower energy consumption. It’s a serious tool for roasters wanting unmatched control, speed, and repeatability—while still fitting neatly on the benchtop.

Taste Profile

Tasting Notes: Passionfruit, nectarine, pineapple
Cupping Score: 88.0
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Our coffees are scored using the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) protocol by Q Grader–certified cuppers. A score of 80+ qualifies as specialty grade — clean, well-processed, and high quality. 80–84 coffees are more common and often used in blends. 85–87 are brighter, more complex, and better suited for high-quality filter brews. 88–90 are exceptional, and 90+ coffees are ultra-rare, often Cup of Excellence (COE) winners — the best in the world.
Suitable with Milk? No
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Some of our light roasted filter coffees are bursting with bright, fruity acidity — think citrus, berries, or tropical notes. While these flavours shine on their own, they don't always play well with milk. The acidity can clash with milk's natural sweetness and creaminess, sometimes creating sour or chalky flavours.
Decaffeinated? No

Colombia | Santa Monica | Jairo Arcila | Castillo Honey, Passionfruit Co-Ferment - When is peak flavour?

Light Roast - Roasted on Roest L100 Ultra

As our all time favourite coferment lychee wasnt available this year, we got to pick this “Passionfruit” One  - maybe my new favourite fruit macerated coffee from the producer Arcila family.

Flavor notes: 
Acidity ●●●●○
Body ●●●●●
Sweetness ●●●●●
Balance ●●●●○

This lot was grown by Jairo Arcila at Finca Santa Monica, and processed by his son Filippe.

Only the ripest coffee cherries are hand-picked by experienced pickers. Once harvested, the coffee was transported to the processing station on the same day. The coffee was exposed to a dry anaerobic fermentation of 72 hours with dehydrated passionfruit and wine yeast.

Later, the coffee was slowly dried on raised beds, below 35 degree celsius, until ideal moisture content was achieved.

This microlot is 100% Castillo. This variety was developed by Federación Nacional de Cafeteros. It is more productive than Caturra and resistant to coffee leaf rust.

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