Post-Roast: Peru Photo Blog
Bryant Banker-ScannellThe season for fresh offerings from Peru has arrived! With the addition of our Peru - Cajamarca, Lima Coffee we wanted to look back on our first trip in 2019 where we visited the cooperative COOPBAM.
Coffee from Peru often has notes of dried fruit, lovely sweetness, and tame acidity. These coffees remind us of cola from an old timey soda fountain shop, and during our visit to the capital city of Lima, coffee shops were doing an incredible job representing the coffee grown there.
Coffee in this region is typically processed by smaller farms on site, but for many producers cooperatives have stepped in to help remit immediate payments for cherry which eliminates the risk of processing.
Farms that grow coffee are often growing a second cash crop. You see a lot of cacao production on the side which can help fill gaps when the weather is not in favor of coffee crop yields.
Above: Farm layout | Below: Crossing the river to get to the wet mill and drying shed
Above: Sorting cherry to be processed | Below: Depulping cherry
|
 |
Above (left): Milled cherry | Above (right): Milled cherry being rinsed after fermentation
After coffee is fermented and rinsed, it is then moved to the drying shed which keeps coffee safe from rainfall and consistently drying. These raised beds have a wire mesh that the coffee rests on which allows air to pass from below and increase consistency in drying.
Above: Drying shed with coffee on raised beds | Below: Dried coffee in parchment
Once coffee is dried samples are tagged by producer and move through partners for cupping and evaluation. These cupping results will determine what coffees get moved into regional blender offerings that best represent the origin, and what coffees get held separate and stay as single producer lots.
Oh, and don't forget about the animals. No trip is complete without recognizing them.
