Anderson Castrillón
Anderson Castrillón is someone the LaREB collective have been familiar with for some time. In fact, we have often met Anderson on our travels in Colombia together with LaREB, first in November 2019. This is the second time we have been able to purchase coffee he has grown on his farm near the town of La Celia. Anderson grows coffee just outside town, in the Risaralda region, not far from the coffee growing centres of Pereira, Manizales and Armenia.
La Celia
La Celia has been a major focus for LaREB in recent years; it’s a relatively short drive from their base in Pereira, coffee growing is a major industry in the area, and they have a strong network there through Ana Mustafá and her family, who own several farms in the hills surrounding the town centre. La Celia, however, is under-served by speciality buyers, meaning that many farmers deliver their coffee to local purchasing centres to be blended in to regional blends, or even sell unprocessed cherry to be processed at large central mills.
Anderson is an excellent example of the work LaREB have done in La Celia, and of the potential of the area. When we first met Anderson, he was working as a cupper at the local association, and helped us to track down the source of our ‘unknown varietal’ lot from Gustavo Acevedo. It was here that he first made contact with Herbert and Ana of LaREB, who were impressed by his ambition, dedication and work ethic. They later found out about his own farm, and tasted his coffees together several times, making incremental gains in quality through advice on picking, fermentation, and drying. In a testament to Anderson and LaREB’s work, the result is excellent.
Through several interations, LaREB and Anderson have designed a fermentation protocol that best presents the coffee he grows. Here, Anderson uses a 24 hour initial fermentation in cherry, in closed tanks, before de-pulping, washing and drying. A simple, repeatable process, producing excellent coffee without adding several complicated steps and extra labour and cost.
This lot is softened by the initial anoxic fermentation, with the citrus notes balanced by a soft, sweet and juicy cup with a subtly floral, almost herbal finish.
