Black Honey Berries: Colombia | El Paseo, Nariño
An innovative Honey Process coffee crafted by Huver Castillo, combining traditional Colombian coffee growing with modern fermentation techniques.
Using berry-derived mosto and extended anaerobic fermentation, this coffee delivers vibrant berry sweetness, tropical fruit complexity, and a silky honey-like body.
Flavour Profile
Raspberry · Strawberry · Tropical Fruits
Bursting with juicy berries and ripe tropical fruits, this coffee offers vibrant sweetness, a winey fruit character, and a silky honey-like finish with remarkable clarity.
Coffee Details
Origin: Buesaco, Nariño, Colombia
Farm: El Paseo
Producer: Huver Castillo
Variety: Caturra
Process: Black Honey Berries
Category: Innovation Series
Elevation: 1,800 MASL
Roast: Filter Roast
Origin Story
Nestled in the mountains of Buesaco, Nariño, El Paseo Farm has belonged to the Castillo family for more than 20 years.
Producer Huver Castillo is a third-generation coffee grower who began his professional career as a mathematics teacher before returning to his family's farm. Combining scientific thinking with traditional farming, he has become known for producing innovative coffees that showcase both precision and creativity.
The farm sits between 1,750 and 1,950 meters above sea level, surrounded by native shade trees and fertile volcanic soils that contribute to the sweetness and complexity of every harvest.
Coffee Lineage
Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon, prized for its balanced sweetness, bright acidity, and clean cup profile.
Its structured sweetness makes it an ideal variety for controlled fermentation, allowing fruit character to develop while maintaining clarity and elegance.
Process Story
This coffee begins with carefully selected ripe Caturra cherries that undergo 48 hours of anaerobic pre-fermentation while still in the cherry.
After depulping, the coffee's natural by-products are collected and transformed into mosto—a fermentation culture made by combining the coffee's own fruit material with crushed berry pulp.
The beans are then placed into stainless-steel tanks with this berry-infused mosto for 10 days of anaerobic fermentation, allowing the microorganisms to slowly develop deeper fruit complexity, sweetness, and body.
Following fermentation, the coffee is sun-dried for 10–20 days until reaching approximately 12% moisture, before resting in GrainPro bags for 30 days to stabilise and harmonise the flavours.
The result is a vibrant, fruit-forward coffee with exceptional sweetness, silky texture, and remarkable balance.
Why We Love This Coffee
This coffee is a showcase of modern Colombian fermentation at its finest.
Although the flavour profile is intensely fruity—reminiscent of raspberry, strawberry, and tropical fruits—these flavours are developed naturally through a carefully controlled Honey Anaerobic fermentation, not from added flavourings or artificial ingredients.
Using ripe Caturra cherries, a house-made mosto fermentation culture, and 10 days of anaerobic fermentation, Huver Castillo carefully guides the coffee's natural sugars and organic compounds to develop extraordinary sweetness, complexity, and aroma.
Unlike flavour-infused coffees, this lot remains true to the coffee itself. Every note in the cup comes from the interaction between variety, terroir, microorganisms, and precise fermentation control.
The result is a coffee that is vibrant, wine-like, and deeply expressive, while still maintaining clarity and balance.
A true example of how innovation can elevate the natural potential of coffee.
What is Mosto?
Mosto is a natural fermentation starter created from the coffee's own fruit by-products. In this coffee, it is combined with crushed berry pulp to guide fermentation in a controlled way, enhancing sweetness, fruit complexity, and mouthfeel while preserving balance and consistency.
This innovative technique is one of the signatures of Colombia's modern specialty coffee movement.
100% Coffee. No Artificial Flavouring.
The vibrant berry and tropical fruit notes come entirely from controlled Honey Anaerobic fermentation and the coffee's natural chemistry.
Nothing is added to create these flavours.
This is innovation through fermentation—not flavouring.