Location: Miraflores community, Chontalí, Cajamarca
Landed: February 2024
Altitude: 1,800 - 2,100 masl
Varietal: Caturra & Catuai
Process: Washed
Flavour profile: Rooibos, condensed milk & malt loaf
Category: Fruity & Juicy
We are very happy to be working with Cultivar on this lot for the third year in a row. This was arguably our favourite Peru last year and is becoming a staple feature of our yearly Peruvian offering.
The northern coffee region of Peru, Cajamarca, is growing in its fame for excellent coffees. And in the district of Chontalí Cultivar are working together with a group of growers, who undoubtedly will be becoming one of the brightest stars in their future portfolio.
Their colleague in the Cultivar team, Dreyde Delgado comes from the countryside in this region and he is the one who provides technical assistance to farmers with a specific focus on post harvest practices. Drey is a true Dr. when it comes to processing specialty coffees and he is especially passionate about improving farmers' processing techniques, and developing protocols to maximise the expression of a variety’s flavour.
Chontalí forms part of the upper part of the Huayllabamba river basin, which makes the lands in this region very fertile. The existence of several ecological spheres at different altitude zones in Chontalí and its undulating and rugged topography favours the presence of extensive cloud forests. These provide a great diversity of fauna and flora which are of economic, scientific and cultural importance. Within the mountain chain that crosses Chontalí one finds the Corcovado mountain, the highest and most mysterious of all. The name of this lot is in honour of that mountain. This mountain is considered to be the guardian, the patron or "apu" by locals, and is the habitat of a variety of medicinal plants, caves and waterfalls.
CORCOVADO MOUNTAINS
There are numerous legends around the Corcovado mountain. One talks about a city of gold on the top of the mountain. Of people who dare to walk to the very top and manage to get inside the mountain no one has ever heard of again. Another story tells that if one decides to climb to its top, the hill will know it and it will make it rain and cloudy to prevent the person from doing so. Anyway, the truth is that the Corcovado is respected by families, because they know that it is a habitat for animals and trees that, in addition to providing wood, are responsible for storing water, ensuring this resource in dry times.
That is why Cultivar Coffees baptise this lot as Frutos del Corcovado, the fruits of the Corcovado, in honour of this “apu”, the most important in the area, and in gratitude for its ecosystem services. Thanks to this mountain the cultivation of products such as coffee, as well as livestock is possible. Thus, families from the community of Miraflores with effort and affection dedicate themselves mainly to the cultivation of coffee and find in it their main source of income.
(In partnership with Cultivar Coffees)
