Introducing: Equiano Coffee Company’s latest small farm, single-origin, Colombian coffee, our organic “Planadas, Tolima Colombia”! Sure to be one of the best Colombian coffees one can find in Eugene, this fruity-sweet and smooth coffee is carefully roasted to a medium-light, golden brown.

This supple mix of Caturra, Typica, and Castillo varietal coffee beans produces a smooth, clean and creamy body with a citrus-honey characteristic that leaves a sweet residual on the tongue. Grown in the town of Planadas, in the West-Central Colombian Department of Tolima, this organic coffee is available online at equianocoffee.com and at the Equiano Coffee Tasting Room in Eugene, Oregon.

If anyone in your household leans toward less caffeine or even drinks decaffeinated coffee on a regular basis, then you may already be familiar with Equiano’s uniquely sweet and delicious Organic, sugar cane processed Planadas decaf. Because of the effect that its sugarcane decaffeination process has on the bean, I can say with confidence that it is the best tasting decaf coffee that you can find in Eugene.

Known in the specialty coffee industry as a “ biodiversity paradise ,” the Tolima Department is one of our favorite coffee growing regions in Colombia. You can visit our website to check out our variety of coffees from Tolima and our other favorite Colombian coffees.

This region provides its small farm coffee growers with a rare combination of climatic conditions that lends itself to the growing a flourishing variety of flavorful specialty-grade Arabica coffees. With its proximity to the equator, elevation, temperature, and precipitation, combined with the region’s soil quality, Tolima is a prime geographical location for producing some of the world’s best coffees.

When a coffee’s producers and its roaster take great pains to care for a coffee, the results can be spectacular! That’s what you’ll find with this Colombian from Equiano Coffee. Starting at the point of origin in Planadas, Tolima, a tight-knit and quality-oriented association called “ AGROCEM ” assists and guides local farmers to not only ensure fair trade for the farming families of its 35 members but also to ensure the highest quality in coffee production from growth through cultivation and processing of each coffee grown on its local farms.

Once Equiano Coffee’s roastmaster, Okon Udosenata, tastes coffee samples and chooses the finest and best-tasting coffees available from the region, he then undertakes to find the optimum degree of roast to bring out all of the best flavor characteristics inherent in the bean.

And this particular crop of organic Planadas has a lot to offer the organic coffee lover that gets their hands on these beans or a brewed cup. As a matter of fact, this Planadas has such a range of flavor characteristics to offer that Okon will sometimes make two different roasts available. Aside from his optimum medium roast offering, available online, and at the Equiano Coffee Tasting Room , you may be lucky enough to find the occasional bag of darker roasted Planadas available at the tasting room like I did recently.

If you haven’t had a chance to experience Okon’s coffees for yourself yet at Equiano, you’re missing out on what specialty grade coffee can be and the experience and enjoyment it can provide for those of us that enjoy great coffee. Here is what just a few of our fellow coffee lovers are saying after discovering Equiano Coffee.

“Just had the pleasure of trying their Yellow Bourbon Columbia, and it is out of this world! Can’t wait to stop in and check out their cafe. In a world of so many coffee choices, this really stands out!” – Alyssa B.

“Equiano turned me into a coffee drinker. I never knew coffee could be this good while being gentle on the tummy.” – Brad F.

“Smoothest coffee around. Also, I am normally a whole milk person, but their cashew milk is surprisingly delicious. My favorite Oregon coffee shop.” – Maria K.

I could tell you about all of Okon’s success against popular roasting companies from Portland and against some of the biggest roasting company names in specialty coffee across the nation at roasting competitions. I could even tell you that he is held in such regard in the specialty coffee industry that farmers and professionals from as far away as Brazil, Colombia and Viet Nam come to Equiano Coffee Company in Eugene, Oregon to visit him. But the best way to discover and enjoy Eugene’s best coffees is to visit the tasting room for yourself!

Equiano’s beautiful boutique-style tasting room located at 300 Blair Boulevard , in the heart of Eugene’s “hip” Whiteaker neighborhood is a coffee lover’s oasis. Most of us fall in love with the place as soon as we walk through the doors and soak up the aesthetics and ambiance. But if that doesn’t get you, the coffee surely will.

On any given morning you may find Equiano owners Gloria or Okon or even super-Barista- Jamie working behind the counter pulling shots of espresso on their new, cutting-edge Synesso MVP Hydra espresso machine.

Your friendly Baristas at the tasting room always offer two different espressos for you to choose from as well as a brewed house coffee of the day. If you’re feeling adventurous and want to try one of the many other choices of roasted coffees on the shelf you can always order a single cup of any coffee, brewed to order pour-over style. They even offer “flights” of any three coffees you choose so that you can taste them side-by-side!

All of Equiano’s coffees are available to take home and brew, either ground or whole bean.

So stop in today and treat your taste buds to something special. With chocolates by Davey’s Chocolates and yummy pastries from Noisette Pastry Kitchen , there’s sure to be something for everyone to enjoy at Equiano. And if you’re not in Eugene, you can order many of their small farm, single varietal coffees, and blends via their website at www.equianocoffee.com. Cheers!