Cipizu Washed - Oxapampa-Ashaninka-Yanesha Biosphere Reserve - Pasco -Peru
Farrer’s not only have a long coffee heritage, but their small, dedicated team have the drive and vision to bring you the very best ethically sourced coffees from around the globe.
The next coffee in the Farrer’s subscription range is a new and intoxicating blend from Oxapampa-Ashaninka-Yanesha Biosphere Reserve (BIOAY) located in the Pasco region of Peru.
(Image by @mastababa on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/PO7CGnoDFUI)
Coffee was introduced into Peru during the mid-1700s, by farmers from neighbouring Ecuador and due to the remoteness of most of the growing regions very little was exported until the late 1800s. That all changed with the introduction of several railways, followed by a serious coffee leaf rust outbreak in 1890s which hit Indonesia, resulting in Europeans hunting around for an alternative supply, quickly identifying Peru as a substitute.
Between the late 1800s and the First World War, European interests invested significant financial resources into coffee production in Peru. However, in the after math of the Great War and WWII European colonial interests waned significantly and plantation owners largely vacated the estates. The land was then purchased by the Peruvian government and redistributed to locals, redistributing some 2 million hectares to local farmers.
Coffee farmers Miguel Berasteen, Jesus Colina and Hector Bottger all live and work with their families on farms at 1,990 metres above sea level located in part of the Oxapampa-Ashaninka-Yanesha Biosphere Reserve. Created in 2010, the area, known as Cipizu Hill, is mountainous with its own cooler microclimate as a result of a significant “quebrada” (stream), which in also supports a diverse range of native plant and animal species.
Cipizu itself is part of an autonomous native agricultural community called Tsachopen, located between the Andean foothills and the Amazon basin in Central Peru, where they use climate-smart agriculture and specially focussed processing, to help them grow and produce sustainable, high-quality coffees.
All three farmers receive regular support from 7 Elements, an organisation focussed on supporting sustainable livelihoods through revitalised permaculture and clime-smart farming practices. The idea being to help farmers replicate natural cycles that are resilient and productive without using chemical inputs.
Essentially Miguel, Jesus and Hector practice a “food forest model” of agriculture, which means that they grow coffee, vanilla, sweet potatoes, peanuts and a lot of other plants that serve as secondary sources of income or as family food sources. Alongside that each crop also serves a variety of additional purposes, for example fruit trees provide shade, food and timber. The neem tree provides shade and produces an antifungal oil that controls coffee leaf rust.
Once the coffee is grown it is selectively hand harvested and the cherries are pulped in a drum pulper and wet fermented in ceramic tanks for an average of 18 hours. Once fermentation is complete, the coffee is washed using clean water and then the parchment coffee is laid out in thin layers and dried in parabolic dryers. During the process it is raked frequently to ensure even drying, which on average takes on average 5 to 8 days. The coffee is then sold on as parchment coffee to middlemen and local cooperatives.
(Image by @rileyfara on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/8v058NRG6_U)
To this day Peruvian coffee growers are largely small scale, but despite that the country is the largest exporter of organic Arabica coffee globally. With access to extremely high altitudes and fertile soils, it’s no wonder Peru’s smallholder farmers produce some stunning specialty coffees.
Cipizu Washed is a coffee with notes of ripe fruits, molasses, dark chocolate, honey, citric orange acidity, medium body, really consistent and well balanced, complete with final notes of cocoa.
Farm: Oxapampa-Ashaninka-Yanesha Biosphere Reserve
Country: Peru
Region: Pasco
Varietal: Catimor, Catuai, Colombia, Costa Rica, Pache
Process: Fully Washed
Profile: Milk chocolate, floral lemon, peach, blueberry, red grape and stone fruits
Cup Score: 86.5