- Farm: La Huaca, Huabal
- Varietal: Mixed
- Altitude: 1750 - 1950 masl
- Process: Washed
Cupping Notes
Strawberry, mango with sweet brown sugar. Buttery body
More Information
This lot is a blend of day lots from the La Huaca village in the Huabal district. Coffees from La Huaca have a very distinct cup profile, which is due to the micro-climate in the area - very humid and wet - and also the deep red, African-like soils.
Nevertheless, despite all the quality potential, producers in the area have struggled to produce high quality coffee in the past, with a lack of infrastructure and a challenging climate often resulting in defects and lower cup quality. The producers in La Huaca all have between 1 and 3 hectares of land and mostly grow castillo, caturra and bourbon varieties. All of the producers pick and process their coffee themselves. Once picked, cherries are de-pulped and fermented for around 24 hours, usually in bags as very few producers in La Huaca have tanks, before it is washed and placed on a patio to dry. In this area it takes a little longer than average to dry coffee, normally around 20 days. Huabal is a district within the Jaén province of Cajamarca and is one of our strongest areas for members and quality.
Huabal has a huge amount of potential for quality coffee, but due to very poor infrastructure many of the producers lack resources and knowledge to unlock that potential. Altitudes in the area range from 1200 to 2100masl, but most of the producers we work with are above 1800masl.
Now with the premiums that they’re receiving for quality, more and more producers are re-planting caturra, bourbon and catuai, which, with good management and fertilization can yield higher and produce much better quality coffee. Huabal is made up of various villages, which are centres of coffee production and each producer belongs to a village.