Comprised of 50% decaffeinated coffee we find ourselves drawn to this blend in the afternoons and evenings, when the prospect of a full jolt of caffeine becomes less appealing but there are still tasks to complete before the day is out. A chance to reset and remain on an even keel rather than overdo it and regret it later on.
We have, in recent years, found that with careful planning we are able to curate a line of Colombian coffee that tastes fresh and expressive throughout the calendar year, thanks to this producing country having multiple harvesting and shipping periods. Given our soft spot for coffees from Huila region we recently launched our El Nevado Espresso, a perennially available single origin Colombian coffee. We’re also selecting lots from Huila to send for decaffeination, this year featuring a lot from La Plata, and so weaving these two product lines together makes for a harmonious tasting half-caff coffee.
The Producers
We are currently featuring coffee from 30 farmers who contribute to the La Pirámide and La Plata communities. Those producers contributing significant volumes include Gina Samara Jalvin, Gloria IsabelGarcia, Ivonne Andrea Oviedo, Laura Ramirez Aldemar Manquillo, Julio Villada and Jose Manuel Cantillo, from whom we roasted a really tasty Gesha coffee from their farm Filo Del Oso in 2022. The members grow their coffee in and around the municipalities of Pitalito, Suaza and La Plata in Huila, which is one of our all-time favourite regions of Colombia.
Dotted on their various coffee farms are shade trees including Cachingo, Guamo (Ice-cream Bean), Carbonero and various citrus and avocado trees. The farms range from just 1 up to 5 hectares in size, and are planted out with a combination of Caturra, Castillo and Variedad Colombia, spanning from around 1,700 all the way up to 2,100 metres above sea level.
Fertile soils with volcanic ash deposits coupled with the high altitudes, quality varieties and agronomical training and support from Caravela all lead to a group of coffee growers who are reliably producing clean, sweet lots that we feel make for very juicy, complex espresso. Each farmer may practice variations on fermentation, size of batches and for different periods, so we can’t be hugely specific with any fermentation details here. Some of them then use raised beds in a polytunnel to dry their coffee, whilst others use their rooftop patios which can be shaded from the sun or sheltered from the rain by sliding a corrugated iron cover over the drying coffee.
The Exporter
Typically, Caravela operate an 80/20 model, working with a vast majority of smallholders and a minority of farmers with large coffee estates. In their latest impact report 87% of their producing partners had farms of less than 5 hectares in size. More than half of the producers they worked with were visited by their PECA team, and in Colombia alone they are working with 1,746 producers across 52 communities.
As regards their PECA program, they have said the below:
“Coffee growers are the heart of our business model, without them we could not maintain and sustain
this value chain. They are responsible for producing the best coffees that delight us every day. The Coffee Growers Education Program (PECA) has developed
a symbiotic relationship between coffee growers and Caravela since we’re always learning from each other. For many years, we have accumulated experiences
throughout experimentation and work that provides tools to empower and educates coffee growers, resulting in consistent high-quality coffees.”
