New arrival: Colombia Valledupar, the new stand-in for our Supremo

Some changes you announce reluctantly, and some you can't wait to have people taste. Our Colombia Supremo 17/18 the workhorse bean for many of our customers has run its course. Its replacement has landed: Colombia Valledupar & Norte de Santander. Same job (an honest, consistent, well-priced washed Colombian), new address: the country's north-east, right up against the Venezuelan border.

First, a word about "Supremo"

A clarification that surprises a lot of people: Supremo isn't a quality, it's a size. In Colombia, export coffee is sorted by bean size, Supremo for the largest (screen 17/18), Excelso for the sizes below. A bigger bean doesn't necessarily taste better; it simply roasts more evenly, which is genuinely handy.

Our new lot plays both sides: roughly 52% screen 17/18 and 48% screen 15/16. You keep most of the Supremo's uniformity without paying the premium the market reserves for big beans, one of the reasons it costs you less.

Valledupar, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

We're leaving the classic coffee regions of central Colombia for the Cesar department and Norte de Santander. Valledupar sits against the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a fascinating geographic anomaly: the world's highest coastal mountain range, whose snow-capped peaks stand less than fifty kilometres from the Caribbean Sea. The result is a microclimate you won't find anywhere else, Caribbean heat below, cold mountain air above, mineral-rich soils with coffee perched between 1,200 and 1,800 metres.

This lot is assembled by the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros, the Colombian federation founded in 1927, which represents more than 500,000 coffee-growing families and guarantees traceability on every delivery. In other words: hundreds of small farms, one set of standards.

Cenicafé 1, Castillo, Colombia: the anti-rust trio

All three varieties in this lot come from Cenicafé, the federation's research centre. The most recent, Cenicafé 1, is the product of twenty years of work: a cross between Caturra and Timor Hybrid 1343, compact, highly productive, resistant to leaf rust and coffee berry disease, and the detail that matters here known for its large bean size. This is the kind of breeding that keeps Colombian smallholders standing despite mounting disease pressure.

In the cup

A solid, spicy washed Colombian, comfortably in our Chocolatey & nutty family:

• Notes: cocoa, walnut, pepper, spice, lime
• Process: washed
• Varieties: Cenicafé 1, Castillo, Colombia
• Region: Valledupar and Norte de Santander · Altitude: 1,200 to 1,800 m
• Harvest: 2025-2026 · Moisture: 11.8% · Density: 1,052 g/L

Our roasting tips

A dense bean and a mix of screen sizes: give yourself a slightly longer finish so the 15/16s and the 17/18s land together. Nothing complicated, but steer clear of very fast roasts.

At a medium roast it's a straightforward, balanced filter: cocoa leads, walnut follows, and the lime wakes up the finish. At medium-dark, the spice and pepper gain ground an espresso with character that holds up beautifully in milk. And as always with a washed Colombian of this kind: it's a formidable blend base.

Discover the Colombia Valledupar & Norte de Santander available in 5 lb and 15 lb bags, from $10.00/lb. Ça va Torquer!