Very Special
It’s easy to take for granted coffees like these: “It’s just another washed Gesha!”. But let’s take a step back and remember why these lots are something to celebrate—essentially, what the Very Special arm of our online subscription is about.
First, the variety. Growing Gesha is not always straightforward, and producers like Juan take a great risk when investing land and time in harvesting ‘exotic’ varietals for the global specialty market.
Second, the execution. The variety has amazing flavour characteristics, but the fermentation process is a producer’s ‘make it or break it’ moment (much like the roasting for us). In this case, the washed process was followed with precision, respecting and elevating the Gesha’s celebrated properties.
Third, the context. Juan is growing specialty coffee in a land where coca has historically predominated. Despite numerous pushbacks, he’s stuck to coffee, which may be a bit more risky but has a healing power for the local community and lands (he briefly explains why in his own words, just below).
‘Just’ another humble and delicious VS delivery.
Finca La Asunta - Bolivia from Cafe Imports on Vimeo.
Words from Juan himself
“The municipality of La Asunta is located in the central part of the province of Sud Yungas, in the center-east of the department of La Paz. La Asunta presents a very rugged topography, with irregular reliefs of hills with very pronounced slopes. The municipality’s water resources are fed by innumerable waterfalls up to 400 meters high, with large flows, the main rivers being the Boopí and Cotacajes.
The region has a warm climate with an average temperature of 28°C, registering a low in winter of 19 °C and a humidity of 70%, with rainfall in normal years of 1,300 mm.2. La Asunta is located 217 kilometers by road to the northeast of the city of La Paz, capital of the department. Crop production is at the center of a coffee plantation development program to replace surplus coca crops. Coffee, which meets high quality standards, represents a viable agricultural alternative for local communities.
I was born in the Camacho province and I arrived in the Yungas in 1992 with my father who was a coffee grower. In 2004 I was able to buy my own land and planted Creole variety but the disease ruined everything. After that I had to start over and I planted catuaí and Gesha and took care of them a lot, since then I have been in specialty coffees and I can take care of my three children with this.
Most of the coffee in Bolivia comes from Caranavi in the Nor Yungas region. We are in La Asunta, Sud Yungas, which is of a different origin within the same country. This region is characterized by producing the Coca leaf, although in recent years this production overflowed, almost irreversibly affecting the fertility of the region. By planting coffee as an alternative product, we reduce coca production and recover biodiversity since coffee needs shade. In addition, unlike coca, we seek to have natural fertilizers so that our soils are fertile for many more years.
To all those who are drinking this coffee, I hope you enjoy it a lot. After a fall, the most important thing is to get up and continue with more strength, learning from the mistakes that are made. I lost almost all of the first plantation I had because it got sick and I didn’t know how to control the pests. I felt devastated since I had spent a lot of money and also had my small children.
Despite the difficulties we went through and thanks to the support, not only physical but also moral, that my wife gave me, we managed as a family and tried again to plant coffee. Now, we are taking the risk of producing exotic varieties, and we are doing much better than we were before. It is never too late for a new beginning.”
Juan’s farm
Juan Carlos Huanca owns Finca La Asunta in La Asunta Munacipality, North-West of Bolivia. This 7-hectare farm has 3 hectares planted with coffee and he grows citrus fruits on the other parts of the farm.
Juan planted Gesha in the hopes of producing new and exciting profiles in the region. They produce only 2250kgs of coffee annually from the farm.
This lot’s process
Processing in Bolivia is very similar in practice to Colombia’s specialty producers, as many Bolivian smallholders invest in processing infrastructure. In washing, the coffee is sorted, depulped, fermented, and dried for about two weeks at the farm level.
Juan does a dry fermentation for 22 hours then dries on raised beds for 7 days.
