Jairo Arcila Santa Monica Washed Castillo (Wine Castillo / Lychee)
The Jairo Arcila Santa Monica Washed Castillo – Wine Yeast / Lychee is one of the more expressive co-fermented coffees from Finca Santa Monica.
The ripe coffee cherries are carefully selected and fermented in a low-oxygen environment. During fermentation, lychee and wine yeast are added. After fermentation, the coffee is washed and dried on raised beds. That washed finish is important because it gives the coffee considerably more clarity than some of Arcila's heavier honey or natural co-ferments.
The wine yeast helps convert sugars during fermentation and contributes additional aromatic compounds, while the lychee brings a very distinctive tropical/floral character
Very limited. Very special. Don’t wait too long!
Reminder! This coffee is raw, you must roast it before brewing
Arrival Date: September 2026. Packed and vacumed sealed in GrainPro
Flavors: Lychee, Tropical Fruit, Strawberry, Rose, Lime, Green Apple, Grape Bubblegum
Grade:
Processing: Washed, Anaerobic Co - Fermentation
Grower: Jairo Arcila
Region: Quindio, Colombia.
Varieties: Castillo
Recommended Roast Range: (Light, light -medium)
We like this coffee best at City + (Light-medium) or as first crack has begun to trail off. We find this “lighter side of medium” roast level really showcases the florals and citrus in the cup. If you prefer a more balanced cup, feel free to take this coffee to a full medium, or just after first crack has trailed off. Pushing the roast into the first few snaps of second crack will yield a more chocolate focused cup at the expense of the more subtle floral notes, but the cup will pick up a bit more body and creamy texture.
Jairo Arcila is a third-generation coffee grower from Quindío, Colombia, widely recognized for his innovative approach to coffee processing and his dedication to producing distinctive, fruit-forward specialty coffees.
Jairo began his career in the coffee industry as a Mill Manager at Racafé, one of Colombia’s major coffee exporters. He spent more than 40 years in the company before retiring in 2019, gaining extensive experience in coffee processing, quality, and exportation.
In 1987, Jairo purchased his first farm, Finca La Esmeralda. Over the years, he expanded his family’s coffee production to include six farms in the Armenia region: Santa Mónica, Villarazo, Mazatlán, Maracay, Buenos Aires, and La Esmeralda.
Together with his wife, Luz Helena Salazar, and their sons Carlos and Felipe, co-founders of Cofinet, Jairo has built a remarkable family legacy in specialty coffee. Their work combines generations of traditional coffee-growing knowledge with experimentation and innovation in fermentation and processing.
Jairo and his family are particularly known for exploring alternative fermentation techniques, creating coffees with exceptionally expressive and often tropical, candy-like, and fruit-forward profiles. Their approach has helped demonstrate how careful processing can bring out completely different characteristics from the same coffee varieties.
For coffee lovers, a Jairo Arcila coffee is more than just a cup it is an opportunity to experience the intersection of Colombian tradition, family heritage, experimentation, and modern specialty coffee innovation.
