Across the coffee growing world we’re seeing quality rise. This is due in large part to the increase in information available to producers. Traditionally coffee growing regions are very remote and lack the basic services and technology available elsewhere. Add to this the complex economic challenges of most of Latin America and Africa, and it’s easy to see why concrete information on how to grow, process, and maintain coffee farms has spread slowly to a lot of these remote areas. Thankfully that is changing. Producers, including many of the off the grid, “smallholders” we buy from, are gaining new technology, ideas, methods, and more on how to make their coffee better. Whether it’s raised parabolic beds, organic fertilizing tips, what cover crops to grow, or how to experiment successfully with natural, lactic, anaerobic, or other post-harvest processing methods there is a lot of amazing work going on at origin, where we buy coffee from.
That being said, I want to introduce you to our latest offering, Peru Jhonny. This coffee is a Java (cultivar) lot separation and post harvest it goes through a lactic acid anaerobic fermentation process. This means that the coffee cherries have their skins removed and are placed in large sealed off vats with lactic acid. Jhonny and his team then leave them to ferment for 25-30 days. The beans are then removed and dried on raised beds to ideal water moisture levels. This process is time consuming and a bit risky. Without proper equipment, it can go horribly wrong and yield coffee that tastes like booze or vinegar. Jhonny was able to travel in Colombia and witness some of these processes and has been refining them at his farm in Oxapamba, Pasco ever since.
When done right, in this case, lactic ferments can yield beautiful raw sugar sweetness, loads of apple and red fruit character with a very clean finish. It’s got a little extra something, while showing no vinegar or off-flavors that can occur from this type of experimental process. This is certainly one of the most interesting Peru’s we’ve featured and we’re looking forward to sharing it with you.
Click here to go to Peru Jhonny product page.
