We are very happy to introduce a new origin this year - our first coffees from Bolivia have landed in the roastery and this tasty washed coffee is the second release from the lot we bought. It is very smooth and chococlatey, makes for an easy drinker as a morning brew and a balanced and delicous Espresso that mixes very well with milk.
 
Background Info:
 
Bolivia is a landlocked country in western-central South America. One third of its territory stretches out across the Andes and constitutes one of the highest inhabited areas in the world. To the east of the capital La Paz and the mighty Cordillera Royal mountain range, the relief descends into the eastern plains, a rainy and heavily forested area of rugged terrain known as the ‘Yungas’. The Yungas, or ‘warm lands’, provide ideal climatic conditions for coffee cultivation. Coffee was introduced to Bolivia by the Spanish colonial forces in the late 18th century. In spite of the country’s long history of coffee cultivation and its significance for Bolivia's economy, the last 2 decades have seen a decrease in production mainly due to an ageing farm population, a lack of renewal of the coffee plots, a spread in coffee plant diseases and a decrease in productivity of the plants. There is loads of potential for great quality coffee in Bolivia and loads of work to be done to reach it.
 
A perfect example for high quality Bolivian coffee is brought to us by the Asocafé Cooperative of Taipiplaya via our friend Ann-Karthin from Caraya Coffee in Berlin. (Check out our Kontext Coffee Chat with Her and Marco from Asocafe here) The community of Taipiplaya is located in the Caranavi province at an altitude of 900-1950masl and the cooperative has over 300 members spread out across 40 small villages. Most of the coffee is grown by individual families on their family land, in amongst other crop trees which provide shade, biodiversity, alternative income and plant material for fertiliser. The cooperative is organic certified and all the coffee is grown according to certification standards. 
 
This second coffee from Taipiplaya is another mixed lot made up from cherries from the lower altitude growers (‘bajo’ refers to the lower altitude areas). The coffee cherries are hand-picked and delivered to one of four cooperative processing stations where they are sorted and depulped, wet fermented and dried to adequate moisture levels for export.