The Journey to Perú

Our newest single 'Perú Río Mapacho' is a full bodied flavour with chocolate, fig and raisin tasting notes. 

The story behind the farmers is something really special. 

In this region 70% of the producers speak their original language, Quechua, and do not speak or understand Castellano (Spanish). They maintain the tradition of the Minka, which is a pre hispanic practice of mutual help where the community works together for the greater good. They practice the Ayni, which is the belief in the duality and balance of all things and continue their traditional dances and ancestral Inca customs - This can be seen every 24th of June when they celebrate the fiesta of the sun.

These communities have been producing coffee since 1950. At the beginning they started as “peones”, which means to work and live on the land of a wealthy land owner, a very common practice creating a vicious cycle of poverty that many were forced into when the Spanish colonized America.

Many producers migrated to the mountains of the provinces Sicuani, Acomayo, Pitumarca and Lares. Up until the year 2012, due to the landscape, producers would take the coffee on mules, walking 18 hours to the province of Amparaes, where they would sell the coffee to local businesses. Thankfully the main highways now connect to the communities helping the Association to sell their coffee to overseas buyers.

Currently with the support of NGO’s, projects of Manu Reserve (buffer zone of the Manu National Park), the municipalities and the advice from professionals, the Association applies sustainable and ecological principals. As they are in a zone that is protected by the State, the producers protect the biodiversity of the area, including the spectacled bear and Andean puma. They protect primary forests, the water, the soil and with the help of specialists in organic production, they have good harvesting practices; hand selecting only the ripe cherries, correct fermenting processes, clean washing processes and careful drying and storing.

Thanks to all of this hard and diligent work, the producers of Río Mapacho have succeeded in producing a high cup quality to share with the world.

Grab yourself a bag of Perú here.