Community Espresso: La Coipa | Perú
Key origin info:
Producer: Small producers based around La Coipa district
Region: San Ignacio Province, Cajamarca Department
Altitude: 1650-1900 masl
Varieties: Caturra, Bourbon, Typica & Castillo
Process: Washed
Cup profile: Creamy, milk chocolate & roasted almonds
About the Community Espresso range:
Our coffee offering is very much about showcasing delicious in-season coffees whilst sharing the stories of their producers and their incredibly hard work and determination that goes into making it possible to enjoy them in our cups. Sitting nicely next to our trusty House Espresso mainstay from San Lorenzo, our Community Espresso brings in a bit variety and the coffees featured in this slot change 3 times per year.
Featuring coffee from 3 producing countries - Peru, Guatemala and Mexico, we aim to source these coffees from the same groups and communities year after year, whilst putting forward the great work that goes into producing coffee as part of a community within a certain region. Rooted in faith in cooperation, the key element linking all these collectives is the aim to improve livelihoods for their communities through quality coffee production whilst caring for the environment.
These lots are typically composed of coffees processed at each grower's own farms and consolidated together to market and sell under the group's or locality banner. The coffees contributed are the core of their growers' production and growers will often contribute a considerable portion of their harvest to these lots. Meaning they might not be the absolute highest scoring or the most exclusive but they do reliably meet physical and sensorial quality control and demonstrate distinctive regional flavour profiles. They also account for larger volumes of what we purchase for our offering. And as such they hold huge significance in terms of supporting livelihoods and returning value. As we always strive for our coffee buying to have a positive impact, valuing these coffees appropriately is incredibly important to maximise producers' profits and benefit wider communities.
Our community espresso celebrates the hard work of these producer groups whilst bringing you a flavour profile suited for consistently classy espresso based drinks – black and with milk. Expect a coating creamy body, milk chocolate and just the right amount of subtle fruit notes characteristic of the coffee’s origin to liven up the cup.
Background on Peru and Por El Cambio project:
Meaning FOR CHANGE, this project has been established in Cajamarca, Northern Peru by our importing partner Falcon Coffees in 2018. The vision was to work directly with small producers who aren't associated with or able to sell their coffee through local cooperatives. They represent a large proportion of coffee producers in Northern Peru and are usually based in remote areas with little or no access to training and price premiums adequate to the quality of coffee they are able to produce. This can leave their income often dependant on local aggregators who buy their coffee at farm for cash before selling it on which results in the producers being paid very little and the potential and quality of their coffee being lost.
Falcon's team on the ground in Peru, have now established relationships with over 250 small producers who bring their coffee in parchment directly to their warehouse where individual lots are graded, yield calculated and assessed for quality. According to the physical quality and sensory score of their coffee producers are offered a price which they can accept or refuse. When accepted, producers are then paid on the same day according to a transparent system (based on cup score and yield). This often means they receive premiums well above the local market price and choose to sell to Falcon as the quality of their coffee is appropriately rewarded. Aside from gaining access to a fair market, producers are also able to receive training on farm management, good harvest and processing practices.
More about La Coipa:
This lot is a blend of day lots from the producing community around the La Coipa district in San Ignacio province. Producers here pick, process and dry their coffee themselves and deliver it in parchment directly to the exporting warehouse of Falcon Coffees. Here the day lots are assessed for quality and offered a price accordingly. Growers are free to accept or refuse this offer. Exceptionally high quality lots of adequate volumes are separated for micro-lot potential. The rest of the coffee still meeting quality standards is blended together to create a larger volume regional lot. This creates a lot with flavour profile characteristic of the area and also helps to maximise producers’ income with quality premiums for a larger proportion of their harvest.
During harvest produces usually hand-pick their coffee themselves with the help from family and neighbours before processing it at their houses. Each family typically have their own small wet mill set up with a de-pulper and a fermentation tank. As is the case in most of Northern Peru, drying beds and tents are still not very common and most producers dry their coffee on tarpaulin mats. Even with very simple processing methods, the coffee quality in the area can be outstanding. Over the past few years we've sourced community lots from a few localities in the Cajamarca region, they all share some common qualities but also each have a distinctive character. We’re very pleased to include this lot from La Coipa to our community espresso range, it fits in beautifully with its creamy body and super comforting flavour profile with bags of milk chocolate, roasted almonds and raisins bringing in a little bit of pleasant mellow acidity.