Product Info

PRODUCER: Elvis Reinerio Tineo Rafael 

PROCESS: Extended fermentation washed

REGION: El Diamante, Jaen, Cajamarca

VARIETAL: Catuai, Caturra

ALTITUDE: 1900 MASL

Tasting Notes: Mandarin and blueberries, juicy and clean, with creamy caramel body and white wine finish.

About The Coffee 

Elvis Reinerio Tineo Rafael is a second-generation coffee producer who owns land in the El Diamante area of Jaen. Elvis himself owns 3 hectares of land, which is planted with bourbon, caturra and catuai and sits at an altitude of 1750 to 1900masl. Elvis and his family work the land together, coordinating their picking, processing and drying and sharing their facilities. Over the last few years Elvis has been investing in improving the quality of his coffee, improving the quality of picking and experimenting with pre-fermentations and different fermentation methods.

Elvis has participated in the Cup of Excellence competition many years in a row, consistently scoring in the top 25!

The Region

El Diamante is one of the closest coffee producing areas to the city of Jaen and therefore has a huge cooperative presence, at least in the lower elevations. The main varieties grown in the medium altitudes is catuai and castillo, and at higher altitudes it is all bourbon, caturra and typica. El Diamante is one of the few areas in Jaen to have protected forests, which are home to a variety of flora and fauna native to the region. There are also many water sources that supply much of the water to the city. This thriving natural environment creates a beautiful setting to grow coffee, but also contributes to the richness and stability of the soils in the area. The cup profile of the coffees in this area is very distinct, with a heavily fruited cup and a pronounced acidity.

The Cajamarca region holds a lot of potential for quality coffee, with ideal growing conditions and great varieties, but quality is often lost in picking, processing and drying, with producers lacking infrastructure and knowledge. The most vulnerable producers are those that are unassociated – those who aren’t members of a cooperative, association or organisation – and they represent 75% of producers in Northern Peru. These producers don’t have access to training sessions or premiums for quality or certifications, and their income is totally dependent on the market price. Often, local aggregators – a buyer who lives in the same area – will come to the farm or house of a producer and buy their coffee for cash before selling it on; in some cases, directly to an exporter or more often to other traders and middlemen. This results in the producer being paid very little for their coffee and a lot of quality coffee is lost.

In Peru, like some other origins, coffee farmers are sensitive to market changes and often lack basic training and the incentive to produce higher qualities of coffee, as premiums often don’t materialise. For these reasons our importer decided to change the way they buy coffee in Peru and work directly with producers, allowing them to control and improve upon existing quality and have full financial traceability. Ensuring these two factors would help them to pay higher prices for the coffees and to make sure that producers receive a fair price for the coffee they delivered, above the market price. In order to do this, they set up a warehouse in Jaen and started to buy in parchment directly from producers.

This shift in approach to sourcing will allow our importer to forge long term relationships directly with farmers, improve the coffee quality from these areas and increase producer household income through access to quality premiums. They now have over 438 registered farmers across the San Ignacio and Jaen provinces.

The Process

This coffee is a mix of caturra and catuai varieties, which were picked, washed and floated before being macerated in the cherry for 16 hours.

After the maceration period the cherries were pulped and fermented in sealed grainpro bags for 2 days under shade, afterwards dried under shade for 15 days.