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Our house blend, Kaleidoscope, is the perfect balance of juicy berry fruit flavours with layers of rich chocolate and a tantalising orange acidity. 

In this blend, three coffees combine beautifully into a moreish espresso or long black but also gives no quarter when paired with milk to make a creamy, delicious milkshake of a latte or flat white. While we have labelled this as an espresso blend it will certainly not leave you wanting if brewed in a cafetiére or a filter.

Coffee is seasonal and we adjust the coffees in the blend throughout the year in line with harvests in different parts of the world. This is version 13 of Kaleidoscope.

Tasting notes
Red Berries, Chocolate, Orange

Blend
30% Los Naranjos
40% El Imposible
30% Don Sabino

Country
Colombia, El Salvador & Costa Rica

Variety/Cultivar
Caturra, Colombia, Castillo, Bourbon, Pacas, Anacafe 14, Parainema & Catuai

Process
Washed & natural

Altitude
1200 – 2100 masl

Los Naranjos
Los Naranjos is is contributed to by coffee farmers in the municipality of San Agustin in the famous coffee department of Huila in Colombia. These small farms with an average size of only three hectares are selected for producing exceptional coffee. These coffees undergo a washed process whilst still at the farm they were picked at, before being transported to the central dry mill where they are combined to produce this exceptional coffee. In Kaleidoscope, this coffee brings the rich chocolate undertones and provides plenty of the sweetness.

El Imposible
This coffee comes from the El Imposible national park in the west of El Salvador near the border with Guatemala. Farmers in this region are entrepreneurs with a passion for coffee, carrying on family traditions that span generations—many being 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th generation coffee growers. The environment provides excellent agro-climatic conditions, allowing farmers to cultivate avocados, cacao, citrus, plantains, and bananas alongside coffee. The nutrient-rich soils are fertilised in three rounds per year, keeping the plantations healthy and highly productive. However, the steep slopes of the farms make harvesting a challenge for pickers. Farmers often recount stories of transporting coffee cherries or parchment by mule or horse before better roads became available. 

Don Sabino
Steven Vargas and his family have Central Valley Coffee running through their veins. His great grandfather, Recadero, was a pioneer in establishing coffee in the area of San Isidro de Alajuela along the slopes of the Poas Volcano in 1940. His son Sabino, of whom the mill is belovedly named after, continued the family business and even succeeded in growing and developing it. Today, Sabino’s youngest child, Gilberth and his son Steven, operate the farm. 

After very carefully only picking the ripe cherries, Steven brings the coffee to the mill where they are put on raised beds in a layer about 2 inches thick. They are left uncovered for a night before then being turned numerous times a day. This is the case for about 15 to 18 days before being fully dried. 

This coffee brings lots of delicious, ripe red berry flavours to Kaleidoscope, in particular strawberry flavours.