Colombian Washed Castillo SOE Review: A Super Clean Espresso from ARGCAFEE in Cauca

 Most of my long posts in February were dedicated to café hopping in Australia. During the month I spent there, I once again found myself marveling at the incredible richness—and rarity—of the green coffee resources available in Australia. If you are a coffee enthusiast who truly values the terroir and regional character of coffee, I strongly recommend putting Australia on your travel list.

Among the many cafés I visited, Veneziano Coffee left a particularly deep impression on me. They are the kind of roaster that seems to “hunt” for beans from highly specific micro-regions. In their shop, you’ll find several house espresso blends as well as multiple SOEs permanently on the menu, and each one has its own distinctive flavor profile and memorable character. It’s no surprise that they’ve been listed among the World’s Top 100 Coffee Shops.

At the time, I bought a bag of beans that could be used both for pour-over and as an SOE. The beans come from the ARGCAFEE cooperative in Cauca, Colombia, and they are a washed Castillo.

When people talk about “washed Colombian coffee,” they rarely emphasize the variety. Castillo—often translated simply as “Castillo” in Chinese—is a variety that doesn’t display extremely distinctive characteristics like Geisha or Caturra. Instead, its flavor expression relies heavily on the terroir and the processing method. Overall, Castillo is a highly expressive and versatile variety.

Take washed Castillo as an example: it typically presents clean and bright citrus notes, which is also the most classic processing style you’ll find for Castillo on the market today. This style highlights the variety’s acidity potential inherited from its Caturra lineage. Castillo is commonly grown in Colombia’s Cauca and Huila regions, and it frequently appears in espresso blends or SOEs, often displaying flavors such as chocolate, citrus fruits, and cane sugar sweetness.

Many people assume that Castillo is an average-quality variety, but that perception isn’t entirely fair. When grown at sufficiently high altitudes and processed properly, Castillo can reach the quality level of Caturra or Bourbon. In fact, under certain experimental processing methods, it can even deliver more striking sweetness and intensity than traditional varieties.

The SOE I’m sharing today is a great example. It comes from the ARGCAFEE cooperative, and their story deserves special attention. In today’s almost dreamlike Colombian coffee landscape—where hype and trends often dominate—ARGCAFEE feels like one of the few refreshing and genuine exceptions. Their story genuinely moved me.

ARGCAFEE is located in the Argelia region of Colombia, and the name itself is a combination of the two words. In 2014, 17 coffee farmers from the remote areas of Argelia in Cauca came together to form the cooperative. Their goal was simple: to find better markets and better prices for their high-quality coffee. In many ways, it was a classic case of farmers “banding together for warmth.”

Today, the cooperative has grown to more than 230 members, with about 150 farmers actively involved in coffee cultivation and production. In the video associated with the cooperative, the main speaker is the founder of ARGCAFEE, who recounts how the organization grew from a small grassroots initiative into the influential cooperative it is today.

Many cooperatives in coffee-producing regions carry a strong sense of social responsibility. Whether it’s fair trade initiatives or gender equality programs, these efforts represent real change happening at the origin. From community culture to management practices, these initiatives ultimately contribute to improving coffee quality as well. The goal is not only to allow more people to drink high-quality coffee, but also to help consumers better understand the land and communities behind it.

ARGCAFEE has implemented several significant initiatives and, in my opinion, stands out among many cooperatives. One of their most important projects is a coca crop substitution program, created in partnership with Café Imports and Banexport. In the past, some local farmers planted illegal coca crops in pursuit of higher profits. This program offers them a viable alternative by encouraging profitable coffee cultivation instead.

Through the program, the cooperative helps farmers access markets, provides agronomic support, ensures higher and more stable prices, and enables them to participate in legal trade channels. Ultimately, this initiative helps local communities reduce economic dependence on illegal crops.

In addition, ARGCAFEE launched a Women Coffee Producers Program. This program provides financial incentives for female coffee producers and promotes their role in the coffee industry by empowering women within the coffee supply chain. Gender inequality has historically been common in coffee-growing regions, which is why you’ll often see coffee lots labeled as being produced by women farmers.

These initiatives promote equal employment opportunities and recognition for women in agriculture. Currently, 78 female producers contribute through ARGCAFEE’s program, creating sustainable opportunities for women in what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry.

Now let’s talk about the coffee itself.

When you open the bag, you’ll immediately notice how plump and uniform the beans look. Honestly, they just look delicious. After grinding, the dry aroma reveals a very clear and vibrant citrus fragrance, giving off a light and refreshing vibe, along with a hint of milk chocolate.

The roast level is medium-light, which sometimes makes people worry that an SOE might lack crema. But in my extractions, the crema turned out to be both rich and aromatic. The wet aroma carried notes reminiscent of sweet orange soda and nutty chocolate.

The espresso shot itself opens with a lively balance of acidity and sweetness. The moment it touches your tongue, the bright acidity instantly lights up your taste buds—seriously refreshing. Then a caramel sweetness rises to soften the sharpness of the acidity, bringing the mid-palate into a balanced and gentle harmony.

The most impressive part is how clean it tastes no matter how you extract it. The roasting style and technique are truly outstanding, greatly increasing the margin for error during brewing—something I always appreciate in a coffee I love. In my tasting notes, I even highlighted it in colored pen with the words “super clean.” It really deserves that label.

For milk-based drinks, I tried making both a dirty coffee and a latte.

In the latte, I noticed a silky texture reminiscent of cream cake, incredibly smooth and well balanced, with a comforting and gentle character. The body is solid, and the sweetness is wonderfully pronounced.

In the dirty coffee, the flavor leaned more toward malt candy, still soft and smooth overall. Honestly, this is the kind of coffee that tastes great no matter how you brew it.

For black coffee, I made both a classic hot Americano and a Bumblebee—an Americano with orange juice. Ever since I visited Serbia, I’ve gotten used to calling orange Americano “Bumblebee,” which always makes me laugh.

Most espresso beans don’t deliver particularly stable flavor when diluted into an Americano, but this SOE feels like it can carry the whole performance on its own. The cup shows a very clean and refreshing profile with citrus and white tea notes, incredibly fresh and natural, almost resembling the clarity of a slightly “over-extracted” style that mimics pour-over texture.

Even when paired with orange juice in a Bumblebee, the coffee’s original flavor isn’t overshadowed. Instead, the two complement each other quite nicely. The beauty of this bean lies in its fruit-forward profile combined with clear flavor layering. In the latter half of the cup, notes of milk chocolate and nuts add depth and structure to the citrusy drink, making it feel richer and more complex.

It suddenly makes you realize how versatile this coffee really is.

To sum it up, this coffee fills nearly every category on my flavor radar chart: nuts, fruit, florals, and chocolate are all present. It feels like a harmonious dance between acidity and sweetness—first bright acidity, then rising sweetness, both moving in the same rhythm, creating impressive flavor tension.

And finally, it’s incredibly versatile. You can basically brew it with your eyes closed and it will still taste great.

Don’t ask—Australian roasters are absolutely worth exploring in depth. This kind of “bean-hunting” approach is both thrilling and deeply memorable.

Gold Washed Coffee Explained: Lemongrass & Ginger Flavor Notes from Colombia Cauca

 In a gold washed coffee, I tasted unmistakable notes of lemongrass and ginger.

A few days ago, I shared a dedicated introduction to what gold washed processing is—a relatively new method that combines the strengths of both washed and natural processing. The first time I encountered a gold washed coffee was last November at the Shanghai Coffee Expo. At the booth of Direct Coffee from Kyoto, this particular coffee immediately caught my eye. That moment marked the beginning of a flavor experience that completely amazed me—one that has stayed with me ever since.

I placed an order for the beans on the spot. This coffee is a Gold Washed Red Bourbon from Popayán, Cauca, Colombia. The barista at the booth was also the roaster of this very coffee, and the way he presented its flavors was incredibly impressive. It was the first time I had ever tasted such distinctly clean and vivid lemongrass and ginger notes in a Colombian coffee built on an innovative twist of traditional processing methods. Ultra-clean, ultra-refreshing, and incredibly smooth. Today, I want to take some time to talk about this coffee in detail. If you ever come across beans from the same region, make sure you give them a try. From what I’ve researched, most of the production from this farm is exported to Japan and Australia.

Popayán is a city in southwestern Colombia, the capital and largest city of Cauca Department. The Cauca region itself is considered one of Colombia’s core coffee-growing areas. Before diving deeper into this coffee, it’s necessary to revisit the concept of gold washed processing and the Santuario Project that I mentioned previously. Santuario is a professional coffee producer and exporter with farms and processing facilities in Colombia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Mexico, Ethiopia, and El Salvador.

The founder of the Santuario Project, Camilo Merizalde, is also behind the Colombian farm where this coffee was produced. His journey into coffee is quite interesting—he originally worked as a financial trader with no background in the coffee industry. During visits to suppliers, he was often asked where to find high-quality Colombian coffee. After returning home to Colombia, he reached out to people working in coffee farming, and that’s how he gradually entered the world of specialty coffee.

“Santuario” means “sanctuary” in Spanish. Camilo envisioned creating a refuge and a dream farm in the Cauca mountains of Colombia. The farm mainly grows Bourbon varieties along with several others, at elevations ranging from 1,850 to 2,100 meters above sea level—nearly ideal conditions for coffee cultivation. The farm also operates a large-scale processing center. Their focus goes beyond simply improving coffee quality; they emphasize developing styles and techniques grounded in scientific processes, ensuring consistent quality year after year.

I also want to briefly talk about Direct Coffee, the roastery based in Kyoto. They don’t have an official brand website, nor is there an abundance of written information about them. However, their official Instagram account has around 11,000 followers, which is quite solid compared to many overseas independent roasters I’ve come across. Judging from this particular coffee, you can get a sense of their roasting philosophy. They use a Diedrich roaster—one of my personal favorite brands.

Diedrich roasters are best known for their infrared heating systems. This technology transfers energy directly through infrared radiation, efficiently delivering heat to the drum and the bean surface while minimizing heat loss to the surrounding air. More importantly, this roasting method helps preserve complexity and sweetness in the coffee. Infrared heat reduces the risk of scorching the bean surface and allows for more even internal and external development. That’s exactly why the coffees they roast have such clean, clearly defined flavor profiles. They place strong emphasis on expressing terroir and highlighting sweetness. When you drink their coffee, you can clearly sense its cleanliness, pronounced sweetness, and a gentle yet gradually bright acidity, with a well-structured and layered overall profile.

As soon as you open the bag, you’re greeted by an intense lemongrass aroma. Honestly, smelling something like this in winter feels like spring blooming inside your heart. Within that strong lemongrass aroma, there’s a hint of ginger lingering in the finish—not the sharp, spicy note of aged ginger, but a fresh, uplifting sweetness reminiscent of young ginger. It’s truly unique. Once ground, these aromas become even more intense and expressive.

I brewed this coffee using two different setups. The first was a V60 Drip-Assist (Smart Dripper) used purely as a V60 cone, just like the barista did at the expo. The valve was kept open throughout, with no immersion involved. The pouring focused on a small central area, mostly using a single continuous pour. I used 92°C water (Nongfu Spring), a brew ratio of about 1:16, and a total brew time of around 1 minute and 55 seconds, including a 20-second bloom. In the V60, the citrus notes really stood out, with acidity that was extremely gentle yet bright. It was a genuinely pleasant sensory experience. The highlight, though, was the mouthfeel—exceptionally smooth and round, almost rolling across the tongue. It felt refined and elegant.

The second method I used was a three-hole flat-bottom dripper paired with Læsseyr filter paper, a setup I’ve been using quite often recently. With this dripper, I usually go for a slightly tighter ratio—around 1:15. Using 15 grams of coffee and yielding about 198 grams of brewed coffee results in an effective ratio closer to 1:13. This slightly higher concentration brings out a richer sweetness, which is exactly what I was aiming for. In the flat-bottom dripper, the flavors came through more boldly: bright lemon and citrus notes, paired with a delicate ginger aroma. The smooth, rounded texture was consistently satisfying in every cup. It’s the kind of coffee that makes you finish it almost without realizing it—pure comfort, like a gentle massage for your taste buds.