Yojan Pérez – El Arenal – Cutervo – Peru

Region: El Arenal, Cutervo, Cajamarca, Peru

Producer: Yojan Pérez

Farm: Hacienda La Piedra and Playa Grande

Altitude: 1,600 – 1,850 MASL

Varietal: Bourbon, Catimor, Caturra, and Catuai

Process: Fully washed after pulping and fermenting, then dried in the sun

Notes: berries, jasmine, apricot, marmalade, grapefruit

100% Arabica

This is a refreshing and nuanced micro-lot from farmer Yojan Pérez. He produced this coffee on two small farms called La Piedra and Playa Grande in the Arenal community of Santo Tomas, located in the heart of the Cutervo National Park, Peru’s oldest ecological preserve. The region boasts a wide range of biodiversity of both flora and fauna, and in addition to the native forests, Don Yojan is growing vegetables, plantains, yuca, and root vegetables.

In particular, the 3 hectares of coffee in production have produced an exceptional micro-lot of coffee, one with more verve and character than stereotypical northern Peru. Delicately floral, effortlessly sweet, gently citric, and capped by hints of ripening berries, this coffee is memorable and thoroughly delicious.

Yojan Pérez is growing a nice mix of coffee trees, including the traditional variety Bourbon, dwarf mutation Caturra and its hybrid progeny Catuaí, and introgressed Catimor. Intercropping with multiple cultivars is an important step in a multi-pronged approach to resisting problematic afflictions like rust fungus.

Photos and text courtesy of Royal Coffee