Peru - La Libertad
‘La Libertad’ was harvested and processed by Ana Dalila on her farm in north east Peru. Here high altitude, high humidity and fertile soils are combined with careful picking and processing.
Ana runs her 4-hectare small holding with the help of husband Arturo and their community - we’re delighted to be able to buy from this family business again. Our original introduction came from her father, David Guevara, who we've also sourced coffee from in previous years.
Mango, cocoa, biscuit. Long stone fruit finish
Producer: Anai Dalila
Region: La Libertad, La Coipa, San Ignacio
Process: Washed; 36 hr fermentation, sun-dried on raised beds
Varietal: Catuai, Pache
Ana’s farm is divided into two areas and she grows a diverse range of coffee varieties including Bourbon, Caturra, Geisha, Catuai, Pache and Catimor. The farm's location provides ideal growing conditions for quality coffee production - high altitude, relatively high humidity and fertile soil.
Due to a shortage of pickers in the region, Anai's entire family helps harvest the coffee cherries by hand when they are perfectly ripe. Over the years, they have been experimenting with different fermentation techniques to draw out the best flavours.
After picking, the cherries are floated in fresh water to remove any beans that are over-ripe. The remaining cherries are then de-pulped and fermented in plastic bags under shade for 24-36 hours (depending on the humidity levels). Finally, the parchment coffee is moved to raised drying beds where it lays for 9-12 days to slowly reduce moisture content.
Sourcing in Peru ...
With the help of Falcon Speciality we’ve been sourcing from this area of Peru for six seasons now; the coffees are improving year on year, in no small part due to the support Falcon are able to provide on the ground.
Falcon Speciality have been working directly with farmers in this region of Peru for several years, allowing for greater control and improvement on quality. Full financial traceability helps us to pay higher prices for the top quality coffees, ensuring producers receive a fair price that is significantly above the market price.
Falcon's Simon Brown is now based full-time in Jaen, where Falcon have an incredible set up including a purpose-built warehouse, complete with in-house cupping lab, an agronomist, and a Quality Control team.
Simon has been instrumental in working with producers to improve processing methods and this year’s lots continue to show good progress. The quality from the 2022/3 harvest has been fantastic and we are delighted to showcase the coffee and celebrate the growers’ achievements on an international stage.
Anyone looking to learn more can re-visit our interview with Simon from 2018, a link to the post is below: