Colombia Narino Cafe Santana Organic

This delicious coffee comes from the Santana coop located in the highlands of southern Colombia. Balanced, creamy and clean this coffee is versatile and classy. A crisp lime front end is followed by notes of orange, roasted almond and dark chocolate.

Arrival Date: December 7th, 2020

Acidity & Brightness: Crisp lime acidity and slightly sweet

Balance & Finish: Balanced with a quick, clean floral finish

Body & Texture: Full bodied with a creamy texture

Flavors: Orange, roasted almond and dark chocolate

Grade: Excelso - Medium large, Grown at 1800-2100 masl

Certifications: Organic

Processing: Fully washed, hand picked, sun-dried

Varieties: Caturra, Castillo, Colombia and Typica

Roasting: We like this coffee best at a medium roast (Full City), though you'll get even more of the subtle floral notes notes at a light-medium (City+). This coffee can handle going darker into Full City+ where you'll notice more dark chocolate and roasted almond.

Recommendation: This coffee is smooth and easy drinking. Great as a classy after dinner cup or for folks who like to be awoken by a more gentle cup of joe.

Reminder! This coffee is raw, you must roast it before brewing!

Our Review

Santana is a group of 40 producers from the municipalilities of San Lorenzo, San Pedro de Cartago, La Unión, Colón Génova and Sancisa within the department of Nariño. who are working together to find an international market for their coffee. Organizing as a group was a critical first step because each producer individually cultivates coffee on small farms of just a few acres. Each producer has their own micro-mill to carefully harvest cherries, depulp, ferment, wash and gently dry the parchment on raised beds. The group has well organized post-harvest practices that ensure a clean and consistent blend with just enough differences from farm to farm to create a rich complexity of flavors. An export company called Mastercol provides crucial logistical support for things like warehousing and milling coffee for export to the international market, which provides better income for everyone to reinvest in their farms and strengthen their families’ livelihoods.

It's been quite a while since we had a coffee from the often overlooked southern Colombia region of Narino. This one stood out from the crowd even among it's northern peers! I would classify this coffee as a bit more nuanced than a typical Colombian coffee drinker might be used to. That's not to say it's not got plenty of body and creamy texture, it's more a reflection of the flavor profile. An almost sparkling lime acidity is readily noticeable at the beginning of the cup and is quickly followed by a balanced blend of orange, dark chocolate and roasted almonds. The finish is quick and clean, leaving you wanting another sip! The dark chocolate is especially noticeable in the grind, less so in the cup. The word that pops to mind when I think of how to describe this coffee is "classy"; Nuanced, confident and composed but not pretentious and inaccessible.