This lot hails from three coffee producers - Martin Santos Zurita, Tomas Bueno Medina & Anibal Peña Altamirano – whose farms, La Naranja, La Piña & El Cedro, occupy 11 collective hectares of prime coffee growing land high in the Peruvian Andes.
At 1,900 metres to 2,000 metres above sea level, the farms are perfectly situated to produce very high-quality coffee. The three gentlemen have Yellow Caturra, Bourbon and Typica trees planted on their plots. The trees are around 15 years old but very well cared for and regularly renovated. Leaf mulch and other organic matter serve to fertilise the trees year-round. Harvest and post-harvest work is traditional and done to the optimal standards. All three producers contributing to this lot use strict harvest and processing methods so as to ensure that the natural potential of their coffee is maintained.
During the harvest, coffee is selectively handpicked with only the ripest cherries being harvested at each pass. These cherries are then hand-sorted to ensure no underripe or damaged cherries make it into the fermentation tanks. The coffee is pulped on the same day that it is picked using a mechanical or hand-turned upper, located on the farm itself. After pulping, it will then ferment in a tank for around 30 hours (due to the very low ambient temperature at this altitude) before being washed in pure water. All three producers have also constructed raised ‘African’ beds (at the recommendation of their local association) for drying.
After being pre-dried on patios or tarpaulins, the clean parchment will be spread on these to dry for around 20 days. The parchment is turned regularly for slow and even drying until the humidity reaches 11.5% humidity. The Santuario Association of Coffee Producers(Asociación De Productores Cafetaleros El Santuario) was created in2017 to help producers in the Cajamarca to improve the quality of their production. Advised by Santuario agricultural technicians, all the farmers who belong to the organisation use the same strict harvest and processing methods so as to ensure that the natural potential of their coffee is maintained.
