Aguacate Hass

Persea americana

Aguacate (varieties: común/papelillo, Hass, choquette)

Aguacate Hass cut open, showing the inside

Field guide

🗓️ Season

● peak · ○ available · — scarce

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🗺️ Where it grows

Avocado is native to the highlands of Mesoamerica (Mexico and Guatemala); the Hass type is grown in Colombia's cool highlands, above all in Antioquia.

Altitude: 1,800–2,500 m

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Where it grows wildWhere it's farmed todayMedellín

👀 Look

The avocado most travelers already know. It is smaller, with dark green-to-almost-black skin that is thick, bumpy and pebbly. Inside, the flesh is deep yellow-green and oily.

👃 Aroma

Faint and nutty, gently green.

👅 Taste

Rich, creamy and nutty, with a dense oily texture — much fuller than the mild local común. This is the classic avocado flavor.

Sweetness: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🍽️ How to eat it

Its creaminess makes great guacamole (mashed avocado dip), but locals still love it simply sliced with salt, spread on bread, or served beside a bandeja paisa (Antioquia's big platter of meat, beans and rice). The richness also holds up well on toast and in salads.

🧃 Drinks

Rarely juiced. Now and then it is blended with milk and sugar into a thick batido (a milkshake).

🏪 Buying tips

It is ripe when the dark skin gives a little to a gentle press. Firm ones will ripen at home in a few days; softer ones are ready now. The bumpy skin turns from green to nearly black as it ripens.

💰 Price

The premium type here — expect around 11.000–13.000 COP/kg at the market (April 2026), more than the everyday común.

🌎 Local lore

This is the avocado the world buys, and Colombia has become one of its biggest exporters — with the highlands of Antioquia, right around Medellín, at the heart of the boom. The thick skin that lets it travel well is exactly why you see it in supermarkets worldwide.

⚠️ Watch out

Avocado is toxic to dogs, cats and birds — it contains a compound called persin — so do not share it with pets. It is perfectly safe for people.

🎉 Fun fact

Every Hass avocado on Earth traces back to a single tree grown by a mail carrier named Rudolph Hass in California in the 1920s. Every Hass tree since is a grafted clone of that one plant. Like all avocados, it is a laurel-family cousin of cinnamon and bay.

⭐ Worth trying?

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Rich and creamy — taste a Hass slice side by side with the mild local común.