New coffee from Bolivia - Collasuyo

"We are very happy to work with Daniela and Pedro Rodriguez in Bolivia. Bolivia a country struggling with both poverty and leafrust, this is means that farm volumes low and the makes paying the producers properly extremely important. Working together with Daniela and Pedro we are supporting their program Sol de Mañana which is educating the farmers in treatments   for leafrust and a higher price they can achieve for  higher quality." /Joanna Alm, Head roaster 

In the small colony of Collasuyo in Caranavi region Nicolas Calque and his wife Maruja are doing a careful job at their process station. They have a farm called “ La Florida”  in Collasuyo of 12 hectares where they produce and process their coffee. Nicolas started in coffee industry 18 years ago. His neighbors recognize him as a coffee lover and at the age of 14 Nicolas went to live with grandmother  as his family were having economical problems. He started working as coffee picker, whilst his grandmother provided food and shelter. In 1999 Nicolas invested all his savings and bought a farm in the colony of Collasuyo where he dedicated his entire farm to produce coffee, but the prices they were receiving for their product were too low to cover the family costs. In 2010 Nicolas and his wife sold their farm and moved to Brazil to improve their quality of life. However, they soon changed their mind, ”It was not what I expected, I worked over 8 hour in a sewing plant, we lived with 20 families locked in a room in poor conditions.”  says Nicolas. Six months later Nicolas returned home to Collasuyo with his family and bought back the coffee farm in the farm from his savings. This has motivated Nicolas to produce more and tastier coffee. He’s a part of the program that Daniela and Pedro has, called Sol de Manana. Pedro and Daniela are exporting the coffee and finding a good market for it, they are also training the farmers to work for a higher quality with less leaf rust. This year Nicolas has planted two more hectares of coffee.

FACTS

Producer: Nicolas Colque
Location: Collasuyo, Caranavi, Bolivia 
Varietal: Caturra, Catuaí and Typica 
Harvest: May to September 2015, peaking in June and July
Process Date: 19th July 2015
Elevation:  1550-1650 masl
Processing: Full-washed and dried on chemical beds for 7-9 days. 
Our current espresso recipe: 18g / 29 sec / 36 g (a TDS about 9.5% which gives an extraction around 19%).  
Flavour description: A very mature and sweet cup with a big body. Notes of red grape, rasin and dried fruit.