Peru Organic Rigoberto Vazques

Peru, Rigoberto Vazques, Organic Washed.

We love the coffees of Peru. This time we bring, from the hand of Rigoberto Vazques, an organic washed coffee, of the bourbon and caturra varieties, grown in the Lonya Grande region, Amazonas at 1,650 meters above sea level. Tasting notes of Milk chocolate, caramel, nuts and fruit notes such as apple or yellow stone fruits. From the first moment this coffee from Peru fell in love with us. Very balanced and versatile, it is a coffee that we recommend for both filter and espresso. Rigoberto Vazques is a third generation coffee producer. He grew up learning coffee production from his father and his grandfather and he has always understood the importance of high quality cultivation.

Harvest and processing

Throughout Peru, most small producers use a similar family production model. The size of the farms is small and most families collaborate to contribute the necessary work, from pruning to weeding and fertilization, to achieve a successful coffee from Peru harvest. During the harvest season, coffee from Peru is selectively hand-picked. This labor-intensive process generally involves the entire family. Some larger farms may hire local laborers to help with the harvest. After harvest, the cherry is often sorted by hand to remove damaged or underripe cherries and sometimes (depending on the family’s processing setup) floated in plastic buckets or vats to remove underweight. After sorting, the cherry is pulped. Most families have a manual or mechanical drum pulper located on their farm, usually close to the house. Once pulped, coffee from Peru is fermented in a tank for at least 18 to 40 hours, depending on the climate (higher altitudes often require longer fermentation times due to cooler air temperatures). After fermenting, the parchment is washed with clean water. The drying infrastructure varies a lot in Peru. Some farmers use covered raised beds and others have a “solar tent”, an elevated drying room, often on top of a storage shed or even on their home. Parchment will dry for about 20 days on average and regardless of drying method, it will be turned over regularly to ensure even drying.

Coffee in Peru

Peru has exceptional potential as a producer of high quality coffees. The country is the world’s largest exporter of organic Arabica coffee. With extremely high altitudes and fertile soils, the country’s small farmers also produce some amazing specialty coffees. Although coffee arrived in Peru in the 18th century, very little coffee was exported until the late 19th century. Until then, most of Peru’s coffee was consumed locally. When coffee rust hit Indonesia in the late 19th century, a central country for European coffee imports at the time, Europeans began looking elsewhere for its solution. Peru was a perfect option. Between the end of the 19th century and the First World War, European interests invested significant resources in the production of coffee in Peru. However, with the advent of the two world wars, England and other European powers were weakened and adopted a less colonialist perspective. When the British and other European landowners left, the government bought their land and redistributed it to the locals. The Peruvian government bought back the 2 million hectares previously granted to England and distributed the land to thousands of local farmers. Many of these farmers later grew coffee on the land they received. Today, coffee from Peru growers are overwhelmingly small-scale. Peruvian farmers often process their coffee on their own farms. Most of the coffee is completely washed. The cherry is generally pulped, fermented, and sun-dried in raised beds or drying rooms. Drying greenhouses and parabolic beds are becoming more common as farmers turn to specialty markets. After drying, the coffee from Peru will be sold on parchment to the cooperative. Producers who are not members of a cooperative usually sell to an intermediary. The remoteness of the farms, combined with their small size, means that producers need intermediaries or cooperatives to help bring their coffee to market. Cooperative membership greatly protects farmers from the farm and can make a big difference to coffee income. However, currently only about 15-25% of small farmers have joined a cooperative group.