arango, Author at Arango Specialty Coffee

78 | El Naranjo White Honey

Producer Evelio Bados	Description Floral, grapes, molasses, chocolate
Process White honey, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,900 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

El Naranjo began over 35 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 is proud that his children are continuing his legacy to produce coffee at El Naranjo. It is important to him that his children and El Naranjo are successful for generations to come.

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10 | Guayacanes

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Segunda Erazo	Description Cherry, caramel, chocolate, honey
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,730 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Segunda inherited Guayacanes from her father, who also taught her everything she knows about coffee. She relied heavily on these skills to support herself and seven children when her husband passed away 20 years ago. Today, her children work beside her at Guayacanes. The farm provides not only the coffee harvest, but also bananas, avocados, and yuca for the family’s consumption. Segunda is hopeful that the farm will continue to support her family for many generations to come.

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13 | Las Gradas

Spot Continental NJ

Producer William Martinez	Description Sweet, stone fruit, cherry, caramel, bakers chocolate
Process Washed	Varietals Castillo, Colombia
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,750 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental New jersey

Growing up in the countryside, William worked at several coffee plantations. With the support of his father, he started planting his own coffee 19 years ago. Now he calls Las Gradas home along with his wife and two daughters. William has plenty of ambition and there are many upgrades he would like to make to his farm. In 2020 William added a new parabolic drying bed. Now he is planing the addition of a wet mill. He currently uses one at a neighboring farm. The ability to earn a better price for his coffee has allowed William to provide for his family and also improve his farm,

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105 | El Chocho

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Andres Gomez	Description Sweet, caramel, stone fruit, black cherry
Process Washed	Varietals Castillo, Colombia
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,950 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Andres inherited both the land at El Chocho and his knowledge of coffee from his father. Through the years, he has gradually made some updates at the farm, predominantly to the wet mill. As he improves his facilities, he is simultaneously working to increase his production by planting more trees. Originally, El Chocho consisted of 4,000 Castillo and Colombia trees and now he has around 6,000 trees, with plans to plant more.
Andres’ coffee has become one of our favorites year after year. We believe the unique way he processes his coffee makes it stand out on the cupping table. Even though his coffee is washed, we find complex notes that normally occur with other processing methods, like honey or even natural process.

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05 | Los Pinos

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Colombia Portilla	Description Milk chocolate, honey, caramel, stone fruit
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Castillo, Colombia
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,800 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Colombia inherited Los Pinos from her parents and raised her 3 children there as well. As a divorced mother, she relied on coffee production to provide for her family entirely. Her children helped on the farm while they were growing up, but now that they are all married with their own families, her brothers Hernan and Guillermo assist her during the harvesting season.

Colombia is still dedicated to her farm and wants to improve her drying installations. She intends to continue coffee production for years to come and is excited about the possibility to work hand in hand with roasters overseas.

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129 | Floresta

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Mario Solano	Description Stone fruit, molasses, brown sugar, chocolate
Process Washed	Varietals Castillo, Colombia
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,900 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Mario remembers his father buying Floresta when he was a kid. After years of hard work from his parents to provide for the family, Mario believes it is now his time to provide for them. He learned everything about growing coffee from his father and has stepped into the role of managing the farm and 10,000 Castillo trees.

Mario is grateful for the education that he got from his parents, especially the love for the farm and how important it is to value everything that the land offers.

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