Peru San Fernando - Washed - Organic

PERU SAN FERNANDO - WASHED - ORGANIC

COUNTRY

Though coffee arrived in Peru relatively early—in the middle of the 1700s—it wasn’t cultivated for commercial export until nearly the 20th century, with increased demand from Europe and the significant decrease in coffee production in Indonesia. British presence and influence in the country in particular helped increase and drive exports: In the early 1900s, the British government took ownership of roughly 2 million hectares of land from the Peruvian government as payment on a defaulted loan, and much of that land became British-owned coffee plantations. As in many Central and South American countries, as the large European-owned landholdings were sold or redistributed throughout the 20th century, the farms became smaller and more fragmented, offering independence to farmers but also limiting their access to resources and a larger commercial market. Unlike many other countries
whose coffee economy is dominated by smallholders, however, Peru lacks the organisation or infrastructure to provide economic or technical support to farmers—a hole that outside organisations and certifications have sought to fill. The country has a remarkable number of certified-organic coffees, as well as Fair Trade–, Rainforest Alliance–, and UTZ-certified coffees. Around 30 percent of the country’s smallholders are members of democratic co-ops, which has increased the visibility of coffees from the area, but has done little to bring incredibly high-quality lots into the spotlight. As of the 2010s, Peru is one of the top producers of Arabica coffee, often ranked fifth in world production and export of Arabica. The remoteness of the coffee farms and the incredibly small size of the average farm has prevented much of the single-farm differentiation that has allowed for micro-lot development and marketing in other growing regions, but as with everything else in specialty coffee, this is changing quickly as well. The country’s lush highlands and good heirloom varieties ofer the potential for growers to beat the obstacles of limited infrastructure and market access, and as production increases, we are more likely to see those types of advancements.

THIS COFFEE

This coffee originates from what was once the Inca empire in Peru from the region of Cusco. The coffee plantations are located under the snowy Choqesafra valley of the Inkawasi district. Here the indigenous farmers follow in the footsteps of their ancestors, working in harmony with the environment and mother earth. The coffee is grown under shade covering with close attention paid to the health of the soils and irrigation to help the coffee trees thrive. This coffee is made up from two Cooperatives - Cooperativa Incahuasi and Cooperativa San Fernando. Together the group encompasses 1000 members. The coffees come from four regions, San Fernando, Pacayamba, Amabamba and Apaylla, with the processing controlled by the Cooperativa Incahuasi. The majority of the cherry comes from San Fernando, who produce about 60 - 70 % of the total volume. In each area there is a centralised processing plant where coffee cherry is collected in addition to pulping,
fermentation, washing, drying and temporary storage, to later be transferred to the central warehouse, where sampling and physical and sensory evaluation are carried out by the quality analyst. The quality of the coffees from this region is well known as being excellent, and in 2020 one of the producers from Incahuasi placed 1st in the Cup of Excellence with a washed geisha lot. They also went on to have two more producers place in the top 10 this year.

TASTES LIKE:

Green Apple, Hazelnut, Pear