About This Coffee
In Peru by far the bulk of coffee production comes from small farms owned and managed by people who have for many years followed organic farm management practice attuned to their cultural connection with the land. Producers typically cultivate coffee on just a few acres of land intercropped with shade trees, fruits and vegetables. Small producers are often very careful about picking and sorting their cherry prior to depulping, fermenting, washing, and drying the coffee, all on personal equipment and on personal property. While producers design farm management and post-harvest solutions to fit their varying needs, they also need a strong business alliance to bring their coffee to the international market and earn fair prices, regardless if the coffees are blended or sold independently.
San Ignacio in Northern Peru was among the first regions in the country to commercially cultivate coffee and coffee production is deeply woven in the regional culture, which celebrates the end of harvest with a wonderful festival. The region offers some of the best flavor profiles in Peru despite the challenge of producing in such remote highland area where coffee grows as high as 1900 meters. The small farmers still practice very traditional agronomy, though they have been introducing new methods as logistics and market access in the region improves.
History of Coffee in Peru
In 1897 when the Belgian consul in Lima Peru wrote a report that “the coffee of Peru is delicious,” there was every reason to believe he was right. That same year, coffee exports had reached well over 20,000 bags, almost triple the 7,000 bags exported in 1894. But the turn of the century would prove to be a peak for that generation of Peruvian coffee exports. By 1913, exports had dropped back down to 9,000 bags. It would have been difficult to imagine on the eve of WWI that for most of the next 100 years Peru would be numbered among the top 10 coffee producing countries in the world, and even rise to the number 5 spot a few times. Looking back, it's not only easy to understand why, but easy to imagine increasing success in producing specialty coffee as a leading supplier of organic coffee.
Growing Coffee in Peru
Peru is made up of a wide variety of landscapes, from long beaches to high mountains, from the desert to the largest rain forest. In the north, the second highest mountain rage, the Andes, goes through Cajamarca department and converges with the Amazon, creating complex and diverse orographies and microclimates. Cajamarca’s inter-Andean valleys have hosted coffee crops for more than 200 years and concentrate almost 43% of the total Peruvian coffee production, not only because of its vast lands but because of an ancient coffee tradition that goes back to the XVIII century, when the first coffee crops were brought in and started to be nurtured by the many generations of producers in the region. Coffee has been part of their lives for so long that their inhabitants’ experiences and learnings are inextricably linked to it.
As an origin, Peru has all the conditions necessary to produce world-class coffee: high elevation, prominence of good varieties like Typica, Bourbon, and Caturra, and a quality-focused movement among smallholder growers, especially in cooperatives utilizing organic husbandry. It's all very encouraging for the future of specialty coffee in Peru.
Country: Peru
Region: San Ignacio, Cajamarca
Farm: Smallholder farmers
Elevation: 1400-1900 MASL
Variety: Bourbon, Catimor, Caturra, Costa Rica, Mundo Novo, Pache, Typica
Processing: Washed
Tasting notes: Medium bodied, balanced, sweet, and fruity with black raspberry, peach, chocolate, & caramel.