Colombian Los Naranjos from Huila, is a fully washed coffee sourced direct from Caravela.
Colombia
Colombia is a country with many distinct coffee regions. The bulk of Colombian coffee is grown north of the Andes, where the country is flatter. Large coffee estates are typical in this region. Coffees from these estates are sold as Colombia supremo and excelso. Rather than being a quality grade these are size grades.
Further south is the Colombian Andes. The Madeline river winds between the mountains and the complexity of the coffee increases. The size of the farms or “fincas” decreases to an average of 3 hectares.
In this region coffee has a wide variety of flavours and depth. Many coffee lovers compare this range of complexity to only one other origin in the world, namely Ethiopia.
Caravela
In 2000 Alessandro and Giancarlo took a deeper interest in specialty grade coffee, specifically in their mother country Colombia. Believing quality could be sorted out and identified, they returned to Colombia, Where they?slowly built a coffee company that rewarded coffee farmers for quality product. Working with farmers they showed them how to produce better quality coffee through updating production, picking and processing methods. They call the method of sourcing coffee, relationship coffee.
Caravela is a result of this investment today. Now they are?able to offer great coffee to roasters interested in quality, direct. Also in place are programs to spread the knowledge from Colombia into their neighbours in South America, and Central America.
Colombian Los Naranjos from Huila
Near San Augustin is a collection of coffee farmers. In 2001, some of these farmers got together with the intention of sharing resources and skills in order to improve their coffee and try to gain access to the specialty coffee market. They formed an association called La Asociacion Los Naranjos de San Augustin. Today the association is composed of about 50 farmers with an average farm size of about three hectares.
Working with Caravela, they have concentrated on the little things that make a difference in ensuring coffee quality is improved. Many of these farmers often grow orange trees on their farms, and perhaps this is why the orange citrus is so apparent in the coffees from this area.
Caravela identify coffees from this region that have the distinct orange flavour characteristics and group them in lots. These lots are called Los Naranjos™. The coffee became famous when it beat Esmeralda in the best of the world competition in 2009. We started offering it the same year. Since then, we have offered this coffee, and it has developed a loyal following.
Details of the coffee:
- 2009, Coffees of the Year 2009
- 2010, Coffees of the Year 2010
- 2012, Carols’ lot won COE of Colombia
AeroPress Experiment
We played with Los Naranjos dosing on an AeroPress, want to read all about it. Read: AeroPress Brew Optimization…
Starting Brews
| Brew Method | Ratio | Brew Method | Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Espresso | 1:2.5 | AeroPress | 15g:200g | |
| Plunger | 48g:800g | Pour over/filter | 17g:300g |
Transparency Information
| Sourced from | Caravela |
|---|---|
| FOB price | US$5.2/pound (2022+) |
| Cupping score | 84.5-85.5 (seasonal variances, this is the min and max) |
| Logistics | Cost ZAR19.48 / kg. Coffee was included in a consolidated seasonal order of Colombian coffees. |
| Producer/Organization | Caravela |
| Typical lot size bought | 8 x 35kg boxes, twice a year |
| Relationship | Our relationship with Caravela goes back to 2008. |
Dane Balia (verified owner) –
This is one amazing cup. Using a manual espresso machine, I get a beautiful americano that has strong complementary flavours that are lively, light and highly palatable.
Warren Machanik –
Great to hear, do you use our recommended ratio, or your own, please share. Did you get Orange flavours?