arango, Author at Arango Specialty Coffee

75 | La Arboleda

Producer Alberto Montoya	Description Sweet, honey, lemongrass, green tea
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Chiroso
Region Antioquia	Elevation 2,050 meters
Position ETA – October, 2023	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Alberto grew up in the Urrao region and has many memories of working on coffee plantations. He eventually saved up enough money to purchase La Arboleda and began growing his own coffee. This proved to be a good investment as it is still home to Alberto and his wife of thirty-two years, Maria.
Aside from coffee, Alberto is also the president of the Junta de Accion Comunal in the region.

As a leader, he is always trying to improve the livelihood of the community through development and projects such as roads and bridges. He wants all the families in his community to have access to opportunities and believes direct trade (near and far) can help everyone succeed.

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02 | El Porvenir

Coming soon!

Producer Lucido Diaz	Description Sweet, butter, nougat, floral
Process Washed	Varietals Pink bourbon
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,750 meters
Position ETA October, 2023	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.

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85 | El Aguacate

Coming soon!

Producer Franklin Moreno	Description Bright, maple syrup, floral, peach
Process Washed	Varietals Chiroso
Region Antioquia	Elevation 2,050 meters
Position ETA – October, 2023	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

A true multigenerational farm, Finca El Aguacate is home to Franklin Moreno, his father, wife, daughters, granddaughter, and dog, Mono, who Franklin claims has been there longer than him. Together they have 5,200 coffee trees of various ages. Franklin’s father focuses on the 1,200 Caturra trees and Franklin manages the 4,000 of the Chiroso varietal. He also has plans to plant more as it is critical to keep production consistent and some of the older trees will need pruning soon.

The family supports themselves entirely off of their coffee production. Franklin hopes that his decision to focus on quality instead of quantity will pay off with a better price for his beans. He firmly believes that coffee should be de-pulped the same day it is picked and also changes the water in his fermentation tanks daily. When it comes to drying, however, he considers the process to be more of an art than a science. The weather plays an important role and you must adjust your technique accordingly.

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14 | Bellavista

Coming soon!

Producer Albeiro Solarte	Description Maple syrup, bakers chocolate, cherry
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,850 meters
Position ETA October, 2023	Warehouse Continental Terminals, New Jersey

Albeiro and his nine siblings grew up at Finca Bellavista. He and four of his brothers still live at the farm today, caring for both the coffee and their aging parents. They have fond childhood memories and learned everything they know about coffee from their now 98 year old father.

While Albeiro takes pride in growing excellent coffee, providing his parent’s with a comfortable lifestyle in their golden years is the ultimate reward for his hard work.

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65 | La Primavera

Coming soon!

Producer Lizardo Montoya	Description Floral, brown sugar, molasses, green tea
Process Washed	Varietals Chiroso
Region Antioquia	Elevation 2,000 meters
Position ETA October, 2023	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Lizardo lives with his wife Luz Dary at La Primavera. They have been working with coffee for about 11 years and currently have trees of the Chiroso varietal at the farm. Chiroso is a relatively new varietal which is endemic to the region of Urrao, Antioquia, Colombia. A natural mutation of old-growth caturra, the beans are larger and have an oblong shape.

As this varietal gains recognition from importers and roasters, Lizardo is excited about the opportunity to grow relationships that will lead to sustainable prices. With a more predictable income, he would be able to budget for upgrades to the drying facilities at La Primavera. Even at 56 years of age, he is always looking for ways to improve.

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84 | La Soledad

Coming soon!

Producer Ivan Montoya	Description Floral, lemongrass, maple syrup
Process Washed	Varietals Chiroso
Region Antioquia	Elevation 2,050 meters
Position ETA October, 2023	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.

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41 | La Mina

Coming soon!

Producer Henry Martinez	Description Honey, dark chocolate, plum
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,960 meters
Position ETA October, 2023	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.

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57 | Santa Ana

Coming soon!

Producer Brayan Meneses	Description Sweet, maple syrup, grape, floral
Process Washed, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,960 meters
Position ETA October, 2023	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

At 31 years of age, Brayan is part of the new generation of coffee growers. He is one of the youngest farmers we work with, but that does not mean he is lacking in knowledge. He learned everything he knows about coffee from his grandfather and has fond memories of going to help in the coffee fields after school.

In addition to his hands-on coffee education, Brayan also completed school as a computer technician and wants to pursue a degree in agronomy. With this higher grade of education, he is able to look at the industry from a different perspective. He saw the need to shift from more traditional coffee harvesting to specialty coffee production about 4 years ago and is using his knowledge to improve quality on every level. Since then, he has participated in several competitions in the region over the last couple of years and has placed in the top 10 every time.

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102 | Los Gusmanes

Coming soon!

Producer Clodomiro Morales	Description TBA
Process Washed	Varietals Caturra, F4
Region Nariño	Elevation 2,100 meters
Position ETA October, 2023	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

After inheriting Los Gusmanes from his father, Clodomiro wanted to continue operating it as a self-sufficient farm. He is very conscious about the environmental impact of producing coffee and is working to be a clean producer of coffee. He repurposes the coffee pulp as fertilizer and also has a filtration system for the water used in coffee processing.

Clodomiro also grows sugar cane, yuca, corn, potatoes, and scallions. These crops provide both food for the family as well as a second source of income. He believes that this diversification makes him better at growing coffee because he has more resources. We are excited to work side by side with him as he continues towards his goals.

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78 | El Naranjo White Honey

Coming soon!

Producer Evelio Bados	Description Dark chocolate, grape, molasses, juicy
Process White honey, sun-dried	Varietals Colombia, Castillo
Region Nariño	Elevation 1,900 meters
Position ETA October, 2023	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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