Spot Continental NJ Archives - Arango Specialty Coffee

202 | ARANGO DECAF E.A.

Producer La Miranda Community	Description Sweet, sugar cane, caramel, chocolate
Process Washed	Varietals Castillo, Colombia
Region Antioquia	Elevation 1,800 to 1,900 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

La Miranda is a small community located in Ituango, Antioquia, Colombia. The region is rich in fertile soils and beautiful landscapes that produce excellent coffee. However, the beauty and the remoteness of the region comes with its own challenges. For the last 40 years, this region has struggled with violence. Massacres, displacements, and extortions have made coffee farming very difficult. We have a lot of respect for people that persist and still grow coffee in these conditions. It’s also amazing to us that farmers can produce the quality of coffees that we are getting under these difficult conditions.
The lots that we selected for the decaffeination process are solid 86+ coffees. We cupped the coffees again after the E.A. decaffeination process and we were very please with the results.
We understand that when people ask for decaf coffee they do it because the flavor not the caffeine. We shouldn’t neglect decaf coffee anymore and we should treat it with respect for people that produce it as well as people that drink it. That is our goal with our decaf program.

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179 | La Fortuna – Chiroso

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Maximiliano Vargas	Description Floral, green tea, maple syrup
Process Washed	Varietals Chiroso
Region Antioquia	Elevation 2,100meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Maximiliano has been working with coffee since 2,000. He is grateful coffee gave him the opportunity to provide for his four now grown children and for his wife when she was alive. Maximiliano’s wife Maria Estela died in 2020. Maximiliano has 3,500 chriroso trees at La Fortuna. In 2021 Maximiliano participated in a coffee competitions with his coffee and placed in the top 10.
Maximiliano explains that he is very meticulous with his coffee processing, he picked one day, depulped 24 hours later, let the coffee sit in the fermentation tank for 72 hours, before washing it.
Maximiliano is planning on making some improvements at his farm starting with his drying facilities and also his wet beneficio. He believes these improvements will allow him to improve even more the quality of his coffee.

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68 | El Silencio – Chiroso

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Jose Flores	Description Vibrant, citrus, caramel, peach, floral
Process Washed	Varietals Chiroso
Region Antioquia	Elevation 2,050 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

A farmer all his life, José only shifted to coffee production when he purchased El Silencio nine years ago. The small farm is home to him and his wife, Martha Lucia, and is planted with 5,000 coffee trees. Of those trees, only 2,500 are old enough to produce coffee now.

The decision to operate on a smaller scale was deliberate. All of the coffee planted at El Silencio is the delicate chiroso varietal. While it is more susceptible to disease, José believes the risk pays off with the quality of the cup. By keeping his farm small, José can monitor all stages of the harvest and processing carefully to assure the health of his plants and the caliber of his coffee.

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15 | El Mango – Chiroso

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Gilberto Giraldo	Description Floral, honey, tea, stone fruit
Process Washed	Varietals Chiroso
Region Antioquia	Elevation 1,800 meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Like other farms in the area, Gilberto and El Mango have experienced a couple of challenging years. Dramatic climate changes in the last few years have diminished the production yield considerably. On top of that, the resurgence of activity among armed illegal groups in the region led to multiple displacements from the farm, including once during the harvest last year.

While these obstacles proved difficult to overcome, Gilberto took them in stride and is still planning for the upcoming years. He has new varietals like Chirosos and Pink Bourbon, that are mature now and is excited to experiment with different processing methods. His unwavering commitment to El Mango is evident and we are equally committed to riding out the ups and downs with him.

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201 | El Cachonal – Chiroso

Spot Continental NJ

Producer Sebastian Urrego	Description Floral, honey, green tea
Process Washed	Varietals Chiroso
Region Antioquia	Elevation 2,100meters
Position Spot	Warehouse Continental, New Jersey

Sebastian comes from a family of coffee growers. His father taught him the skills needed to take over the farm once he retired.

Sebastian believes that a combination between traditional methods of growing coffee combined with innovative processing provides a great approach to make coffee growing profitable. He currently has 6,000 trees of the Chiroso varietal at El Chaconal. With his own wet mill and drying beds, Sebastian pays close attention to processing. Currently he lets the coffee ferment in the cherry for 12 hours before depulping it and continuing fermentation for another 24 hours. The drying process takes a minimum of 6 to 12 days depending on the weather conditions.
Always looking for room to improve, Sebastian has the goal of improving his wet mill and his drying facilities. He knows how important these is are for maintaining the quality and consistency of his coffees.

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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.

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