La Capilla - Peru

BRIGHT & SWEET
Guava, Almond Joy & Cherry Cheesecake

PRODUCERS: Multiple Smallholders
REGION: Cultervo, Cajamarca
PROCESS: Fully Washed
VARIETIES: Caturra, Pache & Mixed Others

This coffee from the community of Santo Domingo de la Capilla immediate tastes of bright and sweet tropical fruit, with guava nectar being the stand out flavor. As the cup develops we see a vanilla creaminess the reminds us of rich cheesecake with a graham cracker crust. The complexity continues to develop with notes of coconut, milk chocolate and almond. As the cup cools we see that guava note deepen into more of a pie filling jamminess somewhere between tart cherries and mixed berries.

In the Cutervo region of Cajamarca, on the Northern end of Peru, agriculture has had a deep history with potatoes, corn, yucca and sugar cane along with cattle being the primary economic activities for decades. Coffee is relatively new here with its cultivation beginning to spread less than 15 years ago.

Coffee leaf rust spread through this region in the 2013-2014 season destroying crops at lower elevations; pushing farmers to plant higher up the mountain. The increased altitude directly resulted in higher cup quality as the fruit developed more slowly in the cooler nights. Coffee farmers here are very conscious of the importance of growing coffee as sustainable as possible, mainly because their livelihood depends on it but also because they have special bonds with their land and the surroundings.