
Emerald Series: Arley Vargas
Arley Vargas is deeply rooted in the family’s coffee legacy, working alongside his father, Alexander Vargas, at their farm - La Piragua. He shares Alexander’s dedication to producing exceptional, high-quality coffees. Sustainability is central to their approach - they’ve adopted regenerative practices on the farm to ensure long-term environmental health. Through both washed and natural processing methods, they highlight a range of vibrant and expressive flavor profiles.
A bit about Arley Vargas

The Process: Striped Red Bourbon

From the very beginning of The Boy & The Bear – Coffee Roastery, our mission has been to uphold a commitment to genuine and transparent coffee processes. We take pride in meticulously overseeing the journey from coffee crop to your cup to ensure we serve nothing short of the best. Our dedication extends beyond coffee; it's about sharing our rich Colombian culture with our community. At The Boy & The Bear, it's not just about the specialty Colombian coffees. It's an immersive experience that encapsulates Colombian culture, its vibrant people, spirited music, and everything that embodies the positivity and liveliness of our country. As our founder, Andres Piñeros, beautifully puts it: "The Boy & The Bear – Coffee Roastery is a magical surrealism of the Colombian coffee experience and the culture that surrounds it." We invite you to savor this enchanting journey with us.
We don’t offer pre-ground espresso because every machine is different. It is never a "one size- fits all". For the best results, we recommend grinding fresh to match your setup.
At the Boy and the Bear, we pride ourselves on staying ahead of the industry and having a deeper understanding of coffee extraction.
Utilizing physics and data collected by ourselves and our colleagues, we have come to the conclusion that the ideal ratio for filter is 1 gram for every 17 grams (or milliliters) of water.
Our ideal beverage yield is:
10oz or 295 grams, to achieve this, we use 20 grams of coffee and 340 grams of water.
Since our coffees are a lighter development, we recommend using water in the 201° - 203°F. And remember, the better your water = the better the coffee.
For any further help or questions, email us or visit one of our cafes and ask one of our knowledgeable staff.
Happy sipping!
While espresso can be a more involved extraction, a good starting point for all of our coffees is:
1:2; 1 gram of coffee for every 2 grams (or milliliters) of water.
In the cafes, we currently use 16 grams of coffee for 34 milliliters of extracted coffee at around 30 - 32 seconds in time with ideal water quality.
Since our coffees are a slightly lighter development than most, we recommend using water around 201 - 202°F.
To trouble shoot your espresso extraction, grind your coffee finer if the espresso is sour or coarser if it is bitter to taste. To increase sweetness, increase your yield. To increase body, reduce the yield.
For any further help or questions, email us or visit one of our cafes and ask one of our knowledgeable staff.
Happy sipping!
When coffee is fresh out of the roasting process, the CO2 retention is at the highest point it could possibly be at. Within the first 4 - 7 days, coffee releases 90% CO2 and 10% nitrogen from the roasting process, making 7 - 14 days off roast the peak consumption time for filter coffee.
Espresso is slightly more forgiving and can still extract incredible flavors up until 6 weeks from the initial roast date.