Colombia
Nariño
Aponte Community
Various Smallholder Farms
Caturra, Castillo
Blackberry Honey
2024 - 2025
Lychee, Berries, Fresh bread, Honey, Juicy, Plum, Yellow fruit
2150 meters
N/A
70kg GrainPro
UAE - Dubai - DMCC
High in the mountains of Nariño, where volcanic soils meet extreme elevations of 2,000 to 2,500 meters, lies Aponte Village, a place where the conditions for specialty coffee are truly unmatched. Here, smallholder farmers from the local indigenous community have embraced a tradition that sets them apart from the rest of Colombia: instead of relying on the country’s typical fully washed processes, they specialize in Honey processing, achieving sweetness, complexity, and recognition on the international stage.
Aponte Village has earned global prestige for its consistency and remarkable cup quality, representing one of Colombia’s finest high-altitude profiles. The name itself evokes a community perched among the clouds, where tradition and innovation come together to create unforgettable coffees.
Cherries are carefully harvested by hand and processed through community-owned facilities, using traditional drying methods on raised beds and parabolic dryers to ensure control and uniformity across each microlot.
In partnership with NOSCOFFEES, select producers receive mentorship to develop innovative profiles, like the standout Blackberry co-fermentation Honey, which blends ancestral practices with modern fermentation techniques to deliver exclusive and highly differentiated coffees.
The story of Aponte Village is one of resilience, mountain strength, and a spirit of innovation, qualities that have established this origin as a benchmark for specialty coffee worldwide.
This lot was processed using a Honey Co-fermentation with blackberry must rehydration. The must was prepared by fermenting fresh blackberry juice for 72 hours under controlled conditions, promoting the development of wine-like aromatic compounds. After the initial Honey process, the coffee was rehydrated in the fermented must, allowing the beans to absorb additional volatile compounds and enhancing their natural sweetness. The result is a cup with heightened complexity, pronounced fruity intensity, and distinctive sensory characteristics.
Ally Coffee began purchasing coffee from Aponte in 2015, and we’re very proud to continue our partnership with the community.
Nariño is one of Colombia’s 32 Departments. It shares a southern border with Ecuador and is home to thousands of smallholder coffee producing families. Colombia’s three ranges of Andean mountains converge in Nariño, presenting ideal altitudes and fertile soil for high grown Arabica production.
Nariño’s particular geography and proximity to coastal and land borders have historically transformed it into a corridor for illicit trade routes, resulting in unwarranted violence against residents of remote mountain farms. Today, thanks to the particularly resilient and fearless spirit of Nariño’s farmers, the small region is a respected nucleus of coffee innovation.
