Peru | Finca Chirimoya

Farm

Finca Chirimoya was established in 2018 when a group of smallholder producers in Cajamarca, Peru partnered with a purpose to improve their coffee production and work to preserve and enrich the natural environment around them. Their collective efforts blend tradition with modern facilities, with each family updating their farms’ infrastructure while maintaining and sharing their individual institutional knowledge about the trade that has been passed through generations.

Members of Finca Chirimoya produce Organic certified coffees, and have undertaken sustainability efforts which have enriched the soil and further highlighted the essence of the region in each lot they deliver. To showcase this distinctive terroir, Finca Chirimoya have also established their own wet mill, centralizing post-harvest processing and where they utilize modern processing innovations to deliver clean and consistent coffees that celebrate their portion of Cajamarca.

Region

Cajamarca Department of Peru shares a border with Ecuador to the north, and the Peruvian Departments of Amazonas to the east, La Libertad to the south, and Lambayeque and Piura to the west. The Andes mountains run through Cajamarca, and the fertile soil and mineral deposits make agriculture, dairy farming, and mining principal economies of the region.

In the 15th Century, the Incan empire expanded into what is today the Cajamarca department and established their regional capital in the city of Cajamarca, today the capital of the department. The city of Cajamarca is one of the oldest cities in South America.

Coffee farming in Cajamarca is centered around the city of Jaen, high in the mountains. The western reaches of the Amazon Rainforest extend to Jaen and its environs. Cajamarca has thirteen provinces, many of which are criss-crossed by rivers flowing from high in Andes down to fertile river basins.

Processing

This lot underwent Washed processing. Freshly harvested coffee cherries were fermented whole in sealed tanks for 24 hours before being pulped. The pulped coffee then was returned to the sealed containers, and fermented in an anaerobic environment again for another 36 hours. The fermented coffee was then fully washed, and dried on shaded beds for 7–10 days.