This trip was assembled with a number of buyers of Cenfrocafe coffee and we wanted to focus on the producers, quality controllers and association from whom we buy the coffee. (This is my first Blog ever!!!) We were introduced to this association a number of years ago by Cafe Verde and have been impressed by their professionalism and capabilities in producing great coffees. They have individual day lot cupping at their lab backed up by Cafe Verde which means that the lots are built properly and achieve quality objectives. We gathered in Lima on Monday and had a calibration and educational cupping @ Cafe Verde which is a cafe and cupping facility in Mira Flores. It is just up the road from the beach and it was awesome to have great coffee just next to the hotel in their cafe. KC O'Keefe is the founder and owner of Cafe Verde and has been living in Peru on and off for the better part of his adult life. He is shown here with Luis who is the lead cupper in the Cafe Verde Lab.

It is a long road to Jaen in Northern Peru. We flew to Chiclayo from Lima and from Chiclayo on the coast it is a 4.5 hour drive on a nicely paved road. We were excited by the new toyotas and the apparently professional drivers. The trip at night might be bearable but our driver decided that he was going to be the first to Jaen no matter how many times we stopped to vomit. We arrived in Jaen on Monday night and slammed into our pillows in the brand new Luna Del Valle. Jaen is a fascinating little town with lots of Che Guevara and Tiger (Shining Path) mud flaps. The 3 wheeled taxis have motorcycle front ends. We ended up using these for rides around town in the evening. Jaen is a bustling little town even though it was established in the 1970s.

Our first stop in the field was an association in San Ignacio called Nueva Generacion in San Ignacio.

The managers of the associations that were part of this area were present at the initial meeting before a farm visit. We visited the farm of Maximilliano who was one of the more energetic and enthusiastic farmers in the area.

He explained his pruning techniques and replacement of aging trees. This was a relatively new production area having been planted in 1994. His farm was 3 hectares with production of 40qq/hectare. (400 lbs) He harvests about 15 times/year and employs 20 employees seasonally to harvest and prune as they harvest. His farm is around 1650 meters and is a great example of how to grow coffee in this region. One important advantage of these growers is drying. They use Solar Driers and are very good at getting the coffee to 12% in parchment before delivering to the Cenfro Receiving station (More later on this)

These driers can take a little long to dry coffee if it is rainy and the growers are looking at options to make mechanical drying available in micro drying mills around the growing regions. We had lunch and a meeting with the association heads and enjoyed some of the local CUY (roasted guinea pig). At the end of the meal they brought out coffee for us which was delicious and much needed. This coffee was roasted at Cenfrocafe where they sell roasted coffee around the country. The farmers in this area are leading the way in pricing in the country and have contributed to Cenfrocafe delivering the highest ave prices to any group of farmers in Peru. The farmers who have their coffee find it into the best categories get paid extra for their efforts. Our next stop was a farm owned by a woman in the Flor y Fauna Association. Her name was Jenara Campos Garcia.

She is looking to start using the Guano de Isla (sea bird Guano) fertilizer on her farm to improve tree health and production. The trees have a better chance of resisting Ojo de Pollo (Chicken Eye fungus) if they are healthy.

On our second full day we stayed in Jaen & visited the Cenfrocafe Coffee Bar.

We will be keeping you posted on these coffees as we cup pre-ships and as they arrive later this autumn.