arango, Author at Arango Specialty Coffee

02 | El Porvenir

Producer Lucido Diaz	Description Sweet, citrus, floral, honeysuckle, caramel
Process Washed	Varietals Pink bourbon
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,750 meters
Position ETA October, 2024	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Lucido grew up in Putumayo, a state in the south of Colombia. He has always worked as a farmer and started growing coffee once he settled in La Union, Nariño, Colombia. He considers this a lifetime commitment and prides himself in his work.
We have been working with Lucido for 6 years now. When we started buying coffee from him in 2018, he had Castillo and Colombia varietals. In 2019, Lucido decided to completely replant his farm with 3,000 trees of the varietal Pink Bourbon. This risky undertaking left him without any coffee production for three years while the new trees grew. In 2022, we had the first harvest of his new varietal and it was worth the wait. Not only did the coffee taste great, but Lucido said that pink bourbon is holding better than the previous varietals regarding climate change and new disease that are affecting the coffee trees.

REQUEST A SAMPLE

145 | Progreso

Coming soon!

Producer Andres Muñoz	Description Citrus, floral, lemongrass, caramel
Process Washed	Varietals Pink Bourbon
Region Nariño	Elevation 2,100 meters
Position ETA October, 2024	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.

REQUEST A SAMPLE

123 | El Carpintero

Coming soon!

Producer Laureano Gomez	Description Sweet, cherry, caramel, bakers chocolate
Process Washed	Varietals Variedad Colombia
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,950 meters
Position ETA October, 2024	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.

REQUEST A SAMPLE

16 | El Plan

Coming soon!

Producer Patricia Benitez	Description Sweet, caramel, maple syrup, bakers chocolate
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Castillo, F4
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,750 meters
Position ETA October, 2024	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.

REQUEST A SAMPLE

07 | El Naranjo

Coming soon!, Under Contract

Producer Evelio Bados	Description Floral, sweet, molasses, grapes
Process Washed	Varietals Castillo, Colombia
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,900 meters
Position ETA October, 2024 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.

REQUEST A SAMPLE

84 | La Soledad – Chiroso

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Ivan Montoya	Description Floral, lemongrass, maple syrup, honey
Process Washed	Varietals Chiroso
Region Antioquia	Elevation 2,050 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

A native of Urrao, Antioquia, Ivan began his coffee endeavors after inheriting a piece of land from his grandparents called La Soledad. Over the last 14 years, Ivan has developed about 3,000 Chiroso trees and credits the elevation of the farm, over 2,000 meters above sea level, as the secret ingredient to the high quality coffee he produces. In addition, the fertile soil allows for diversification as he also produces avocados and naranjilla.

Ivan is certainly proud of the coffee he produces, but he is even more humbled that it allows him to provide for his aging grandparents.

REQUEST A SAMPLE

41 | La Mina

Coming soon!

Producer Henry Martinez	Description Floral, lemongrass, molasses, brown sugar
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,960 meters
Position ETA October, 2024	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Ask Henry Martinez to describe the coffee industry and he will tell you, “Coffee is a blessing for all of us” and that he owes everything he has to hard work and coffee. He can recall good years and bad years, but is quick to note that lately the bad years are overwhelming the good ones. Coffee prices have been very low even though the cost of production keeps climbing.

After getting married to his wife Ricardina, Henry bought La Mina from his father. Through hard work and carefully managed expenses, he was able to pay off the farm in two years. While he originally planted caturra varietals, he found out after only 5 years how susceptible that variety is to leaf rust.

Now La Mina is planted with castillo varietals and focused on the production of specialty coffee as Henry sees this as an important opportunity to reduce the volatility in coffee prices. He knows that if we can develop strong relationships with customers over time, he can concentrate on his craft without worrying if he is going to break even at the end of the harvest.

REQUEST A SAMPLE

78 | El Naranjo White Honey

Coming soon!

Producer Evelio Bados	Description Floral, grapes, molasses, chocolate
Process White honey, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,900 meters
Position ETA October, 2024	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.

REQUEST A SAMPLE

13 | Las Gradas

Coming soon!

Producer William Martinez	Description Sweet, stone fruit, cherry, caramel, bakers chocolate
Process Washed	Varietals Castillo, Colombia
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,750 meters
Position ETA October, 2024	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,

REQUEST A SAMPLE

01 | La Capilla

Coming soon!

Producer Alipio Muñoz	Description Maple syrup, molasses, spices, chocolate
Process Washed	Varietals Caturra
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,750 meters
Position ETA October, 2024	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Alipio has deep roots in coffee. His parents were coffee farmers and he grew up learning the lifestyle from them. He still believes there is tremendous opportunity in the industry for farmers who are willing to learn and adapt to what the market is demanding. Alipio embraces traditional techniques, but welcomes any input and guidance that will help produce coffee of an even higher quality. He’s always looking for ways to improve the quality of his coffee.

REQUEST A SAMPLE