Our featured coffee for December is a vibrant and complex washed coffee from women coffee producers who work directly with the APROCCURMA group in northwest Peru. This coffee is bright with a balanced bitterness, creating a bold, medium-heavy bodied cup that tastes darker than its medium roast. The cup starts out with sweet milk chocolate and fruity persimmon notes with a touch of spice. In the middle, the bold bitterness of orange peel temporarily outshines the acidity in the first half of the cup. The bitterness fades into a long and dry finish with a complex melding of chocolate, orange peel, dried fruit, and spicy cinnamon. 

Roast Color: Medium

Cupping Notes: Orange Peel, Milk Chocolate, Persimmon

About the coffee of the month: We feature a new coffee every month. This allows us to explore more of the world of coffee outside of our normal offerings. It is available this month only, while supplies last. 

Story: For the past five years, Asociación de Productores Cafetaleros de la Cuenca del Rio Marañón (APROCCURMA) has been working directly with 124 women producers to establish coffee production from farms owned and managed by women. A significant number of women in the northern highlands of the Rodríguez de Mendoza province rely on coffee income to support their families. They use organic practices to manage just a few acres of land intercropped with shade trees, bananas, corn, and beans. After carefully harvesting and sorting cherries, depulping, fermenting, washing, and drying is all done at the farm with micro-mills.

The cooperative carries out activities that often go unnoticed but are crucial for producers who have small farms. Investments for basic infrastructure needs, like road improvements, establishing local warehouses, and preparing coffee for export are all coordinated through APROCCURMA, which ensures traceability and quality control throughout the post-harvest process. APROCCURMA also provides women producers with financing, training, and technical assistance to improve coffee quality. The cooperative strives to improve the quality of life for coffee producers and their families through internationally marketing producers’ coffee to gain improved premiums based on a reputation for quality and certification.