Boiled Potatoes and Goat Cheese: Peru 2006

Of course one of the greatest perks of working in the coffee industry is the opportunity to travel to far away places and meet people on the other side of the business. These working relationships are the backbone of Café Imports’ mission in the world of coffee and without them, we would not be able to do our jobs effectively. Consequently, for most of us traveling means being away from our families and homes and inevitably returning to piles of paperwork on our desks. It is a tradeoff that typically keeps us going back to origin time after time. The task of discovering great coffees and maintaining positive relationships at origin is never ending and it is with great pride and humility that we continue the quest for the best coffees from the best producers in the world.

This time it was myself, Jason Long, Mark Ballering from Steep and Brew in Madison, Wisconsin and Alex Varner from Higher Ground Roasters in Leeds, Alabama. None of us had ever visited Peru. We had never traveled together. Alex had never met any of us. This was going to be an interesting trip! The late night flight to Lima was typically uncomfortable and uneventful. We landed and got to our hotel around 2am. After 1.5 hours of sleep, we were up at 3:30 am to catch a puddle jumper flight to Ayacucho. The trip to Ayacucho by road, while I’m sure quite breathtaking, would have taken us 8 hours, while the flight lasted about 1.5. The sun rising over the Andes at 20,000 feet is indescribable. Known as the city of 37 churches, Ayacucho was founded in 1540, but traces of human existence have been found here from as long as 15,000 years ago. Just outside the city stands the site of the glorious battle of Ayacucho, where Simon Bolivar’s troops defeated the Spanish army and in turn sealed the independence of Peru in 1824. This is a gorgeous town filled with history and incredible mystique. No time for site seeing however, we left the small air strip and jumped into the Toyota van that would become our home for the next 8 hours on the journey to San Francisco and the Apurimac River Valley.

I used to live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I’ve climbed 14, 000 foot peaks there. The Rocky Mountains are small. I knew the Andes would be massive, but driving through them is like exploring another planet. The microclimates change faster than you can add or remove clothing. The switchback roads are not wide enough for 2 trucks, yet our driver passes, sometimes on the right. He is a professional, like I’ve never seen before. It takes about 4 hours for me to trust him and keep my eyes open. We stop halfway in the town of Tabo for a traditional lunch of boiled potatoes, goat cheese, and grilled chicken sandwiches—delicious. This was arguably the best meal we had in Peru and I couldn’t wait to come back through Tabo on our return 3 days later.

Arriving in Ayna, just an hour outside San Francisco, we are greeted by waterfalls, rainforest, and the most inviting welcome from a coffee cooperative I have ever experienced. Ayna is a small farming community nestled in the river valley at about 1300 meters. Coffee grows here between 1300 and 1800 meters and most of our Fair Trade Organic coffee is produced in this area. The coffee trees grow on very small farms—less than 5 hectares—and under a vast canopy alongside avocadoes, oranges, and other fruit trees. In Ayna we met most of the key members of CACVRA who had traveled many miles to greet us. The women prepared an incredible meal of fresh trout, plantains, and rice, which was followed by an original presentation depicting the roles of women and children in everyday life and how they assist in the production of coffee. There was singing, dancing, and big smiles. Keep in mind, this was still our first day in Peru, but the reception was characteristic of all the people that we met during the next few days. The members each stood up and spoke about their involvement in the coop and what CACVRA’s success means to their families and their community. They thanked us for our visit, which was the first to their community by any coffee importers or roasters from the United States.

I met Israel Pitesky at the 2004 SCAA show in Atlanta. He was in attendance with the director of CACVRA, Pedro Ruben Pineda Palomino, and exhibiting as part of the Transfair booth. At the time Israel had just been hired by the cooperative to assist in sales, marketing and general management. His English was rough, as was my Spanish, but we managed to make a connection that has developed into one of Café Imports’ strongest relationships with origin. CACVRA, or Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Valle Rio Apurimac was established in 1969 as a means of uniting cocoa and coffee growers in the Apurimac River Valley. This picturesque river valley unites the two growing regions of Ayacucho and Cuzco. The town of San Francisco lies directly on the Apurimac River and spans a bridge connecting the two regions. San Francisco also is the home of CACVRA’s main offices, cocoa receiving warehouse, and coffee cupping facility.

The bustling marketplace of San Francisco would become our home for the next 3 days. Our modest ‘hotel’ overlooking the main intersection in town was the perfect vantage point for the entire town’s commerce, the central taxi stop, and general late night flare. The bridge crossing the Apurimac River, connecting the provinces of Ayacucho and Cuzco, is like a gateway between two distinct commercial centers. The bridge itself is at night, dark and a bit spooky. The cars, motorbikes and 3-wheeled taxis do not necessarily slow down nor pay respect to the large numbers of pedestrians crossing back and forth. Below the bridge along the riverbanks lies an underground community of merchants, small restaurants, and gentlemen’s clubs. It’s about half way across to Cuzco that we notice a typical Friday night gathering on the bridge. A large group including men, women and even young children, are gazing off the bridge into the dark night. We assume there is a fight, or maybe a boat or someone in the river. Moving closer we discover that this point on the bridge is actually a free peep show. The pedestrians stop and talk and smoke or make out with their lovers while hoping to catch a glimpse of one the ‘professionals’ down below as she passes in front of the door, not necessarily in full clothing. Talk about a cheap date.

We spent the remaining 3 days visiting cooperative producers on their small farms and cupping various micro lots from some of the higher elevations. We were pleased to find several of these coffees to be exceptional, while all were above average. All of these coffees are organically grown on very small farms, by producers who take great pride in their work. Most farms have their own small washing station and drying patios, and the cooperative employs several technicians who are constantly visiting and working with the farmers to ensure quality and consistency. We found all of these coffees to present generous sweetness with hints of caramel and chocolate. A few of them displayed exceptional brightness and deep, rich body. It was refreshing to taste this type of quality from Peruvian coffees, which have historically been considered mild replacements for High Grown Mexicans. We are excited and anxious to continue examining these individual coffees and work with CACVRA to eventually separate some of them out to offer as very unique Fair Trade Organic coffees. After a formal meeting with the leaders and several members of CACVRA, we remain confident that our relationship in Peru will continue to yield exceptional, specialty coffees and lifelong friendships.

After having my ‘hotel’ room involuntarily relinquished to make room for a much larger, and clearly more important man, I personally couldn’t wait to get back to Tabo for some more boiled potatoes and goat cheese. The drive from San Francisco back to Ayacucho was long, but with less vomiting. We spent the night in this historic mountain town and had a chance to explore some if its many churches and museums—incredible. The history and architecture in Ayacucho is overwhelming and definitely a recommended stopping point for any visitor to Peru. Our final day was spent in Lima hanging out at Israel’s export office and also visiting the dry mill where our coffee reaches its final stage of processing and bagging. We were pleased to see two of our shipping containers parked outside the facility and two of our lots having just been milled and bagged. The facility is loaded with the most modern sorting equipment and the production is streamlined and very impressive. The management was gracious enough to setup a cupping of the two lots which had just been milled and both were fantastic! It should be said that CACVRA is one of our most reliable and consistent shippers. Our coffees are grown and processed with the utmost respect for the environment and the people involved, and they always ship on time. We look forward to our next journey to and through the Andes and continuing our strong relationship with this great cooperative.

--Matt Hupton matt@cafeimports.com