San Antonio de Chingama sits up in the hills of Huabal, above the town of Jaén in northern Peru, at 1,890 metres. Higher than Ben Lomond above Queenstown, and all of it planted in coffee. Cherry ripens slowly at that altitude, and slow ripening is where the sweetness and the density come from. Between 12 and 18 smallholders put coffee into this lot, and the number shifts year to year depending on who has a crop worth keeping separate. Together they're the Comité Agua Azul.
A comité is smaller and closer to the ground than a co-op. A handful of neighbours who pool what they know, share the cost of getting their coffee properly assessed, and negotiate as a group rather than one at a time. Average farm size here is two hectares. A shade over two rugby fields. On your own, that's not much leverage at market. Fifteen of you is a different conversation.
The comité works with Origin Coffee Lab, an exporter down in Jaén set up by José Rivera and Alex Julca, both of them career cuppers who grew up in this part of Peru. Their programme is called Solidario and it runs like a curriculum. Farm management, post-harvest technique, financial modelling, access to finance, and a route to buyers who'll pay for quality. The part that matters most is the feedback loop. Coffee gets cupped and scored in Jaén, then the results go back up the hill to the person who grew it. Growers find out what their own coffee actually tasted like, and what to change next season. Origin Coffee Lab pays the full price upfront, starts its rates above the local market, and stacks a quality premium on top of that.
Reforestation is a newer part of the comité's work. They've been planting trees back into ground that used to hold them, which does the unglamorous, necessary things: holds the soil on a steep slope, brings shade back, keeps water in the system. Much the same logic as planting natives along a farm creek back home. The coffee is certified organic.
Caturra, Pache and Bourbon do the work in this lot. Around the village you'll also find Typica, Catimor and Marsellesa, plus a few growers running small trials of Geisha and Costa Rica 95 to see what the altitude does to them. Harvest runs May to September, so while we're pulling on a jacket, families in Chingama are out picking, and neighbours pitch in when the volume calls for it.
Everything here is washed. Cherry is pulped, fermented dry for 22 hours, washed, then dried on beds and patios under the Peruvian sun for 15 to 20 days. The micromills are small and locally run, often sitting on the farm itself. Parchment goes down to Jaén for grading and traceability, and the coffee stays attached to the name of the person who grew it the whole way.
- Country: Peru
- Region: Cajamarca
- Sub-region: Huabal, Jaén
- Village: San Antonio de Chingama
- Producers: Comité Agua Azul
- Average farm size: 2 hectares
- Altitude: 1,890 m.a.s.l.
- Varietals: Caturra, Pache, Bourbon
- Processing: Washed
- Fermentation: Dry, 22 hours
- Drying: Beds and patios, 15 to 20 days
- Certifications: Organic