Peru Kovacii Organic

COUNTRY: Peru
REGION: Cajamarca
FARM: Various Small Holders
VARIETY: Caturra, Catuai, Typica, Bourbon
PROCESS: Washed
ELEVATION: 1200-2200 M
CUPPING NOTES: Toffee, Milk Chocolate, Graham Cracker

      Most of the coffee produced in Perú is processed by hand on the producer’s farm, and Kovachii is no different. Sourced from the North of Perú in the region of Cajamarca, cherries are harvested, de-pulped, processed and then dried either on patios, drying beds or on tarps.  For this community lot, farmers from all over the region process and dry the coffee on their farms, then they bring the coffee to either a main warehouse in Jaén or local buying stations in their communities for evaluation. Samples are taken from each, the green is evaluated and the coffee is tasted – from here a price is agreed and the coffee is stored.
     Cajamarca is a large region in the north of Perú, including Jaén, San Ignacio, Cutervo, Santo Domingo and Hualgayoc.  The location of coffee within Perú can be a challenge for farmers and exporters alike, with much of the coffee grown up to 8 hours away from the nearest town where they might sell. This could be one of the influencing factors into why nearly all the coffee is home-processed and dried at farm-level, as it allows the farmer to retain more control over when to sell. If cherry, rather than parchment coffee, was being sold by the farmers they would have to sell on the day of harvest – regardless of the price that day, or their own personal need for finance at a particular time of the crop. But because of the geographical challenges within Perú this has meant coffee is often sold locally to a buyer in their community, transported a little closer and sold again, and this model repeated until it reaches its destination. This can be tricky as both traceability and quality can be lost on this journey, so our import partner has been growing micro-buying stations closer to these communities where we have identified coffees with huge potential. We hope this benefits the farmers and communities in a number of ways, primarily that farmers receive a fair price for the coffee regardless of market conditions that day, and also it allows us to both learn from these communities and to offer training in practices that might improve their coffee quality.
 Our hope would be that year-on-year they keep bringing their coffee, and we see the quality improve every harvest so that in turn they will continue to receive a higher price for a better cup and better yield of coffee.  This year's Kovacii lot is super smooth and chocolatey with just the right amount of sweetness.  This is a great daily drinking cup that has something pleasant in the cup for almost all coffee palates.  We know this is going to be a crowd favorite this year!