Gourmet Coffees for March
Huamantanga Peru
Producers: Cajamarca smallholders Location: Cajamarca Altitude: 1,700 - 2,000 masl Varietal: Typica, Caturra, Catimor & other Process: Fully washed Harvest: August - October Flavour profile: Pear, red grape & date sweetness Roaster: Campbell & Syme
The Huamantanga lot is a blend of coffees from 36 different producers in the Jaen and San Ignacio provinces of Cajamarca in Northern Peru. The blend is named after a nature reserve that sits between the two provinces. In order to curate the Huamantanga, 'Day lots' - coffees that were picked on the same day - from producers all over Cajamarca were purposefully blended together based on cup profile, one typical of the region. All of the day lots come from the early part of the harvest in high altitude areas, which were processed and dried on the producers' farms. Most producers in Northern Peru have their own hand pulping machine and fermentation tank where they process the coffee, before drying it on their patio or raised beds. Once the coffees have been processed, farmers deliver them as parchment to the Falcon warehouse in Jaen, where they are graded, analysed for moisture content, roasted and cupped.
Bushoki Rwanda
Tasting Notes: Orange Marmalade, Sweet Bread, Honey Region: Rulindo Altitude: 1776 masl Process: Fully washed, sun-dried on raised drying beds Varietal: Bourbon Roaster: Campbell & Syme
Bushoki Coffee Washing Station was built in 2006 by Cooperative Inyongera Musaruro. The coop has approximately 500 farmers but there are an estimated 800 farmers that deliver to Bushoki. The wet mill uses a 3 disk McKinnon pulping unit and has 42 drying beds for drying the parchment coffee. In 2013 the coop decided that they were not being managed very well after running into some financial troubles. They rented the station to a private operator and began working with Rwanda Trading Company in 2014 and have benefitted greatly from on-time financing and operational oversight.
Colombia Paez Community
Farmer: Paez Community ASCISP Region: Gaitania, Tolima Process: Washed Varietals: Caturra and Typica Altitude: 1700-1850 Cupping Notes: Apricot, raisin, and sweet berry notes Roaster: Butterworth & Son
Settling high in the Central Colombia Andes mountains of Tolima with the spectacular mountain backdrop of Los Nevados we discovered a coffee paradise where the Páez indigenous people having escaped the Spanish invasion in the early 1500s have made their homes for around 400 years. The Hamlets of San Pedro and La Bella still fall well within the troubled red zone of Colombia, but our visits have been so worthwhile, meeting and working with these wonderful people, experiencing at first hand their lifestyle their passion and pride for producing some of Colombia ?s finest single origin coffees. San Pedro and La Bella, host over 1500 small farms, all above an altitude from 1700 to over 2200 meters and from 1 to 6 hectares each. The coffees grown are Heirloom Typica, Bourbon and Caturra; some plants are over 80 years old, fully organic, sustainable and environmentally protected, the area has recently been certified Organic by Mayacert and USDA. This altitude is where the real high-quality Specialties are found; the terra enriched in volcanic soils, numerous fresh mountains streams. The coffees are rich in flavour, notes of red fruits, herbs, citric and lemon, deep intense chocolate, and panela, full-bodied, and wonderfully balanced, excellent acidity, with an amazing after taste.
Guatemala El Carrizal
Arabica Variety: Caturra, Bourbon Harvest Period: January March Milling Process: Washed, patio dried Body: Round / Full Acidity: Pleasant Cupping Notes: Sweet coffee with hints of sugared almonds, chocolate, and salted caramel Roaster: Butterworth & Son
El Carrizal coffee comes from the highlands of Guatemala in the Oriente Region. The region is known for its small coffee producers, who cultivated the coffee since the 1950s. Today, every farm on the mountain has become a coffee-producing unit and what was once one of the poorest and most isolated areas of Guatemala is vibrant and growing. Rainy and cloudy, Oriente is located on a former volcanic range. Its soil is made of metamorphic rock: balanced in minerals and quite different from soils in regions which have seen volcanic activity since coffee was first planted. El Carrizal is grown in high elevations from 1600-1700 meters up with plenty of natural rainfall per year. The beans were hand-picked, shade-grown and double-sorted to ensure freshness and optimal quality.
Costa Rica Los Robles de Naranjo
Region: Los Robles de Naranjo, West Valley Altitude: 1,450 M Process: Washed Varietal: Villa Sarchi Aroma: Sweet, Subtle, Milk Chocolate, Caramel Flavor: Toffee, Molasses, Light Citrus Body: Round, Creamy Acidity: Bright Finish: Lingering, Pleasant Drying, Subtle Citrus Roaster: Rounton Coffee Roasters
The Aguileras are 12 brothers and sisters, all of whom are involved in coffee as inherited from their parents. The brothers work the mill and farms themselves with basically no hired labor, other than pickers during the harvest. With the help of the third generation, they work the mill and drying patios, prune the coffee fields, fertilize, etc, year-round. The Aguilera Bros understand quality at the farm and mill level, and this is why we are excited about working with them. Most of their coffee is of the Villa Sarchi variety, native to the area and excellent in the cup. Villa Sarchi is a Bourbon mutation (similar to Caturra and Pacas) found originally in Naranjo, West Valley. It is a dwarf variety with short internodes and usually higher-yielding production. The cup can be floral, with great intense and elegant acidity, high fruit tones (like passion fruit), and pleasing sweetness.
Gualme, Honduras
Altitude: 1450 masl Farm/Coop: Gualme Origin: Honduras, Central America Region: Gualme Area Of Corquin, Copan Process Method: Washed Tasting Notes: Milk chocolate, brown sugar, red berries Varietals: Caturra And Catuai Roaster: Rounton Coffee Roasters
This washed lot comes from producers situated in the Gualme area of Corquin, Copan. Gualme is a relatively high altitude area with temperature swings and high humidity. This means the coffee produced in this area has good acidity and complexity but makes it a challenging environment for farmers to dry their own coffee. Producers in this area deliver their coffee to a centralised drying facility that Falcon Coffees implemented this year, in collaboration with the Aruco cooperative. By accessing this drying facility the coffee can be monitored correctly and dried in stable conditions resulting in a really good quality crop. The coffee is grown and harvested on farms that are certified organic. You can expect a really well-balanced coffee with an emphasis on the chocolate and cocoa notes with really nice sweetness and a hint of red berries. For more speciality coffees like these, be sure to subscribe to Blue Coffee Box. You can check out our past featured coffees here.
