Green Coffee Offerings : South America: Bolivia |
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View Our Current Bolivian Coffees |
Upcoming Crop CommentsAfter a hiatus of a couple years, we found these very nice Bolivia coffees from the current harvest. We hope to find other sources as well, to expand our Bolivia offerings in the coming year. |
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A note about Bolivia: With the election of Evo Morales, there has been a lot of news coverage about the coca production in Bolivia. Coca is present in the coffee areas, in the Yungas. But remember, Coca tea is very popular, and that is what the legitimate coca production is for. Coca tea has a mild stimulating affect that is no more potent than caffeine, and is deeply imbeded in the Andes culture. I think in our media, people hear about coca and assume it is for the narcotics trade. Not true. Nomatter the political future for Bolivia, I hope that the gains in coffee quality and premium prices for good coffee are maintained, and that the coffee farmers are not hurt by the uncertainty. At the cuping competition I attended, local farmers were invited to taste the coffee and learn the cupping process. |
There's no better way to learn about a coffee-producing country than to go there! And I finally had the chance to go to Bolivia as a judge for the 2nd Annual Bolivia Coffee Competition. Bolivia has always been a coffee origin with great potential, the potential to have a unique Specialty coffee offering with unique cup character. But I hadn't had much luck in sourcing clean, defect-free Bolivian coffee samples. In 2002-3 crop, our fortunes changed when we had an organic lot from the Aecar Co-op and it was a fantastic, delicate, nuanced cup, excellent in the lighter roasts. It was also perfectly prepared (without defects) and durable throughout the year. I was intrigued. As it turns out, Bolivia does have all the ingredients to produce great coffee, especially in terms of altitude (plenty of that!) and seedstock: the plants are almost all traditional Typica varietal, with some Caturra. Much of the production is traditional Organic farming practice, with a lot of the co-ops certified Organic and some Fair Trade also. Germany and Holland have been buying these coffees heavily for years. But there are some quality issues that are now being overcome in a partnership program with Panamanian coffee growers (who are very advanced in the techniques) and with USAID funding. One problem is that the coffee was sent from the main growing regions, the Yungas (a vast fertile region on the east-facing slopesof the Cordillera Occidental - the Western range) including the Caranavi region, to La Paz for processing. La Paz is at a whopping 12,500 feet; the coffee was sent up the treacherous road when it was pulped, fermented and washed, but not fully dried. The combined effect of coffee that was moist enough to keep fermenting, plus frigid and dry atmosphere at high altitude, dealt a one-two punch to the coffee chemistry, and weird flavors resulted. But now the co-ops are starting to fully process their coffee, gaining more control over quality, providing more jobs in the community, and sending the coffee over the mountains when it is in a physically stable condition. These are the nuts and bolts of how a coffee is transformed from an under-priced, underachiever to a recognized name in the market, a distinct origin, a unique cup character at full bloom. Overall, these are delicate, bright coffees, the classic clean cup, and aromatically sweet. They have subtle fruit flavors, like pear, apple, apricot, tangerine, lemon. They can develop roast flavors that are malty, mild chocolate, nutty, caramelly and honeyed. The best flavors really emerge as the cup cools, and don't diminish but actually grow in intensity. I was a judge at the Bolivian national cupping competition, and have a pictorial from that trip: 2003 Bolivia Cupping Competition. Look for a new page with a lot of details and a lot of pictures later this week, and you can check out my little odd Bolivia Movie now. Prospects for some of the top coffees from the competition look good. -Tom 9/23
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Bolivia is remarkably beautiful and rugged, with more altitude than any coffee-producing landscape needs. This is me at the pass between La Paz and the Yungas coffee region, a mere 15,000 feet! |
The rustic beauty of the colonial town of Coroico, where the 2003 coffee competition was held. Bolivia, despite some recent turmoil between farming unions, was safe, clean, fascinating, and friendly. All I regretted was that I didn't have more time (and a mountain bike). |
One of the tables in the cupping room. The competition is a USAID-funded project, and I have to say that I have never seen a more innovative, dynamic program on any of my coffee trips. |
Our Unroasted Bolivian Coffee Offerings:
Please refer to our Reference Page for definitions of terms and cupping numbers used below. Check out the Sweet Maria's Coffee Home Roasting Forum for more conversation about home roasting this and other coffees.
This was a particular lot I liked in cupping Bolivia offerings from the coffee mill Buenavista, located in the Caranavi growing region of Bolivia. It is not a farm-specific coffee; It represents coffee cherry bought directly by the mill from local producers, and processed together without farm separation. They don't have the receiving tanks to separate fruit from each farm or local region in Caranavi they buy from ...and the farms would be too small to do this anyway. It happens to be the best thing I cupped from Bolivia this year! Beneficio Buenavista has produced some very nice qualities though, and have excellent processing of cherry by traditional fermentation method. This was designated Lot 45 of the season.
The light roast has a sweet caramel and buttery dry fragrance, with slight linden flower and peach scents. The wet aroma has toasted almond, peach blossom, cane syrup, while darker roasts have a more chocolate-toned character with dark fruit hints. This is a very delicate, clean cup which has great aromatics at City roast ... but I appreciate City+ to Full City for the balance of cup flavors. Linden flowers and peach grace the light roast, body is very light and delicate; these flavors come through with a little more roast on the cup, while a pleasant milk chocolate roast taste emerges. The cup really opens up as it cools, with a lemon tea bright accent and malic, apple-like flavors at City roast.
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2005-2006 | 2004 -2003 | 2001-2002 | Pre-2000 Tom's Sample Cupping Log | Moisture Content Readings This page is authored
by Thompson Owen and Sweet Maria's Coffee, Inc. and is not to be
copied or reproduced without permission
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