arango, Author at Arango Specialty Coffee

183 | El Mirador

Producer Edy Martinez	Description Chocolate, cola, grapes, molasses,
Process Honey – Sun dried	Varietals Castillo F4
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,850 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Edy and her husband, Erney, have worked together with coffee for over 20 years. Despite growing up on a coffee farm, Edy points out that she learned to grow and produce coffee with her husband. She explains that, as a female, the focus was on learning household chores rather than about coffee and farming.

As they raised their three children at El Mirador, Edy and Erney were sure to teach them about all aspects of the farm. They considered it equally important to the education the children received in school. Edy is proud that El Mirador provided the income need to raise a family and hopes that her children want to continue growing and producing coffee in the future.

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154 | El Plan

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Milton Ortiz	Description Floral, berries, honey
Process Washed	Varietals Pink bourbon
Region Nariño	Elevation 2,100 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Milton’s family has lived in Santa Marta, Nariño for generations. When his grandfather passed away, his father and 10 siblings each received a small piece of land as part of his grandfather’s will. El Plan was a part of that distribution and Milton eventually purchased it from one of his aunts.

Coffee is the primary crop at El Plan and there are several varietals planted including Pink Bourbon, Caturra, and Colombia. Milton also produces beans, corn, yuca and plantains for the family’s consumption. In the future, he plans to build a new storage space dedicated solely to coffee. This way he can store it separate from his other crops and farming supplies.

Milton lives with his wife, Janet, and their two children, Tatiana and Adrian, at El Plan. They each play a big role on the success of the farm, as they all help with the harvest season. Milton believes that the children may continue the family’s coffee farming legacy in the future, but considers providing them with an education a priority. He wants them to have the opportunity to pursue other endeavors, but would be proud to have them come back to their coffee roots.

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191 | Brisas del Mayo

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Froilan Muñoz	Description Velvety, berries, floral, maple syrup
Process Washed	Varietals Pink Bourbon
Region Nariño	Elevation 2,100 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Froilan learned about growing coffee from his father, but initially did not think it was a viable crop at Brisas del Mayo due to the high elevation. At 2,100 meters above sea level, the climate was generally considered too cold for coffee. Eventually, he decided to take a gamble and plant some trees.

While he will admit that there are extra challenges, Florian has successfully established his coffee crop at Brisas del Mayo. The property is now producing coffees of the Pink Bourbon, Gesha, and Castillo varietals. One benefit to the cooler weather is that pests and diseases that typically infest coffee plants also prefer the warmer, more humid climates. Due to the elevation, Frolian is able to grow more delicate varietals known for their cup quality with less risk of disease. The cooler weather also provides for a slower maturation of the beans, which gives the flavors more time to develop.

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145 | Progreso

Sold Out

Producer Andres Muñoz	Description Bright, floral, berries, honey
Process Washed	Varietals Pink Bourbon
Region Nariño	Elevation 2,100 meters
Position Sold out	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

At 2,100 meters above sea level, Progreso is in the clouds. This elevation has allowed Andres to grow healthy Pink Bourbon and Caturra varietals as the cooler climate helps protect the plants from common diseases. His success with the Pink Bourbon varietal led him to phase out his Caturra trees completely. Progreso fully transitioned to Pink Bourbon trees about 4 years ago.

Andres has worked with coffee for as long as he can remember. For 15 years, he traveled to the state of Huila to work as a cherry picker during the harvest season, eventually saving up enough money to start his own farm. He got right to work planting trees at Progreso, which also became home to him, his wife, Diana, and their two kids.

After a bad experience with the low prices of commercial coffee, Andres decided he only wanted to work with specialty coffee. He stopped focusing on quantity and shifted towards better varietals with a focus on learning and implementing techniques to produce high quality coffee. While he works just as hard to produce less coffee, he is proud of the quality and that he can sell it for a price that reflects the effort he puts into each harvest.

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56 | El Mandarino

Under Contract

Producer Arturo Martinez	Description Vibrant, floral, Jasmin, maple syrup
Process Washed	Varietals Pink Bourbon
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,960 meters
Position Under contract	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Arturo has worked in the coffee industry for over 20 years. He travels through the different regions in Colombia picking coffee while simultaneously learning from many different farmers. A couple of years ago, while working in the Huila region, he noticed how popular the pink bourbon varietal was becoming. He decided it was time to grow his own trees.

With seeds from a coffee plantation in Acevedo, Huila he travelled back to Nariño. Having no land of his own, he asked his father for a small lot to use and has his 250 coffee trees planted at El Mandarino. He now proudly puts his knowledge and experience to work cultivating his own coffee.

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123 | El Carpintero

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Laureano Gomez	Description Sweet, maple syrup, grape, chocolate
Process Washed	Varietals Variedad Colombia
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,950 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Despite growing up in the San Lorenzo region, Laureano went to work in the Quindio department of Colombia when he was younger. This area is part of the Eje Cafetero (Coffee Axis or Coffee Triangle) as it is where the majority of Colombian coffee is produced. Needless to say, he learned a lot about coffee during those years.

In 1985, Laureano returned to San Lorenzo and was able to buy the land that is now El Carpintero. Thirty-eight years later, he still calls the farm home along with his wife, Maria. They raised their two daughters there and are now empty-nesters as both daughters are grown.

Currently planted with 7,000 trees of Variedad Colombia, coffee was not always the main crop at El Carpintero. Laureano recalls a time when coffee was not grown in the region at all as the climate was too cold. He said weather has changed a lot during the years, getting warmer and warmer, making the area hospitable to coffee trees.

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16 | El Plan

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Patricia Benitez	Description Sweet, caramel, plum, chocolate
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Castillo, F4
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,750 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental Terminals, New Jersey

Coffee has always been a way of life for Patricia. Growing up on her father’s farm, she helped with the day to day activities with her siblings. After he passed away, Patricia inherited a portion of her farm where she started El Plan fifteen years ago.
As of 2023 Patricia and her husband Alex have 9,000 trees of coffee planted at El Plan of the varietal Castillo F4.

Coming full circle, she and her husband Alex now provide for her family with coffee production. However, Patricia, like many other Colombian coffee farmers, faces new challenges that are shrinking profits; climate change and the ever increasing costs of production are the main contributors to the declining margins. As we enter our fourth year working with Patricia, and been able to pay above market price for her coffee, we witnessed the importance that coffee has played in the oportunitites for the family. Patricia and Alex have been able to pay for the education of their son in a private university with the proceeds of coffee. Something that was unthinkable of a generation ago. We are humble and proud of working with farmer’s like Patricia an hope to impact many other farmers life giving them the opportunity of having a sustainable business model.

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06 | El Placer

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Ruberto Martinez	Description Honey, pastry, bakers chocolate, cherry
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Castillo F4 and F11
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,800 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental Terminals, New Jersey

As one of ten children, Ruberto was raised growing coffee alongside his siblings. He considers coffee farming a way of life, not just a job, so it comes as no surprise that he is now continuing the tradition.

El Placer is planted with 8,000 trees of the Castillo F4 and Castillo F11 varietals. Above average rainfall in both the 2021 and 2022 growing seasons has led to a considerable decrease in yields per tree. Ruberto laments that while the coffee trees flower, the excessive rain causes the flowers to fall off the tree before the nodes can develop into fruit. This leaves him, and other local farmers, with less coffee to sell.

He believes that relationships are the key to making the coffee industry sustainable. Through his commitment to investing the time and effort needed to produce consistent coffee, he aims to overcome the production variables. Ruberto hopes his quality focus will help El Placer prosper and encourage generations to come to continue the family farming tradition.

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135 | El Maco

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Zoila Rojas	Description Sweet, stone fruit, maple syrup, milk chocolate
Process Washed	Varietals Colombia/Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 2,000 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Born and raised in the Santa Marta region of Nariño, Colombia, Zoila still lives in the same community at the age of 67. Alongside her husband, she began growing coffee at El Maco forty-two years ago and the two of them raised their two children there. After he passed away in 2019, Zoila moved to the city of Bogotá with her daughter. After a few months, she decided to go back to the farm and continue growing coffee. Today, El Maco is planted with approximately 7,000 trees of the Colombia Varietal.

We started to work with Zoila in 2022. After cupping her coffee we loved the profile and saw immediate potential to develop a long term relationship. Zoila is very excited about working with the same partners year over year and show the improvements that she can make.

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07 | El Naranjo

Under Contract

Producer Evelio Bados	Description Grapes, brown sugar, molasses, chocolate,
Process Washed	Varietals Castillo, Colombia
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,900 meters
Position Under contract	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

El Naranjo began over 38 years ago as just a vision. Evelio invested in an untouched lot and worked very hard to clear the land and eventually plant coffee. He was working double duty during this time as he was also employed at other farms in order to provide for his family. After watching his dream come to fruition, Evelio hopes that his children will continue his legacy and produce coffee at El Naranjo in the future. For this reason, he continues to look for opportunities that will allow for sustainability and improved quality of life. It is important to him that his children and El Naranjo are successful for generations to come.

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