This is a new coffee for us, from a cooperative of 300 growers in the remote, high-elevation hills of Cajamarca, who carry their cherries out along the same routes Incan messengers once traveled.
The Rutas Del Inca Agraria Cooperative was started in 2013 by a group of quality-driven young entrepreneurs with a passion for growing coffee. Today it has 300 members living in the remote, high elevation Chota Province, in the northern part of the Cajamarca region. Growers carry their coffee cherries out of the hills on the same routes Incan messengers once traveled, which is where the cooperative gets its name.
The area is a unique microclimate, enclosed by mountains on all sides. The coffee grows at 1,700 to 2,350 meters, where it stays cool all year, so cherry development is slow, giving nuanced flavors time to develop. Catimor, Caturra, and Catuai varietals.
Expect plum, cinnamon, dark chocolate, and floral notes. This is a simple, sweet, very balanced coffee with a noticeable floral, sugary sweetness in the aroma. Washed process, soft acidity, creamy body. It’s unique enough to satisfy a specialty coffee lover, and balanced and simple enough for everyone to enjoy.
This is a new coffee for us at Sugar Leaf, but the cooperative’s reputation for quality precedes it, and we plan to dial in this relationship even further in the coming years.
