We provide shade-grown, fully washed arabica coffee from single estate and single valley origins. We work with farmers who harvest only the ripest cherries, often picking each plant 3-5 times throughout the season to optimize flavor and aroma. Our farmers use almost exclusively the "wet process" method shortly after harvest to preserve intrinsic flavors and eliminate lower quality or damaged beans. They wet mill the coffee cherries using simple hand-powered machinery. They then ferment the mucilage off in small fermentation tanks before washing the beans with water from pure mountain streams. Farmers then slowly dry the beans on patios under the sun or on raised beds under greenhouse shade to preserve the natural flavors. Our farmers grow mostly Typica, Bourbon, Caturra and Catimor varietals. Their farms are situated in the mountains between 1600 and 2450 meters above sea level (about 4000-8040 ft).
Coffee
Peruvian Coffee: What Makes it Special?
Location
Remote, virtually inaccessible valleys hidden behind the Andean Mountains, offering untapped potential.
Elevation
High altitude (up to 2450 meters, or 8040 ft), promoting slower growth and ripening, due to low night-time temperatures.
Soil
Various soil types on farms lead to vastly different flavor profiles. Excellent drainage due to sloped landscape concentrates complex sugars to create a sweet, acidic, highly aromatic cup of coffee.
Varietals
Older tree stocks of Typica, Bourbon, and Caturra. Many trees are over 30 years old and produce fewer beans which further concentrates flavors.
Shade-Grown
Abundance of shade-grown coffee trees cultivated in diverse forest ecosystems.
Cultivation
Traditional farming practices, unspoiled by pesticides, herbicides, far from man made contamination.
Harvesting
Small-scale farms (average size of about 2.5 hectares, or 6 acres) enable growers to harvest only the ripest cherries, mill the coffee and start fermentation the day of harvest.
Water
Farms fed by rainfall and crystalline Andean springs and streams. Process: Abundance of water enables farmers to use "fully washed process," yielding a superior quality and cleaner bean.
Climate
Dry season corresponds with harvest to ease in drying, ensure uniformity, and preserve distinctive aromas and flavors.
