Few coffees brew as consistently clean, sweet, and balanced as coffees from the Puno region of Southern Peru. Sandia Valley is a more specific area within the region, and the Inambari Valley, within Sandia, is just about as good as it gets. The Tupac Amaru Cooperative is one of two associations located in this valley. Tupac is the coffee people ask for the most each and every season from Puno and for good reason — it’s often the sweetest, juiciest, and creamiest coffee in any given container. We’ve held the last 30 bags aside from the last arrival to offer through the newsletter today.
The Tupac Amaru co-op has a membership of well over 500 farmers. Elevation ranges from 1400-1800 masl and farmers grow Caturra, Typica, Catimor, and even some Bourbon. Farmers are small in terms of their landholding. Average farm size is 2.5 hectares in the entire valley. Coffee is typically picked by the farmers themselves and their families. Processing is par for the course as far as rural South America goes: hand crank depulping machines, fermentation in concrete tanks for 16-20 hours with washing done in the same tanks. Climate, although fairly dry in the summer, can be rainy in the second half of the season. Parabolic beds are used to dry coffee parchment which takes on average anywhere from 6-14 days.
Tupac is a densely sweet coffee, think fine cacao and muscovado sugar, that will be its most brilliant when brewed. Its balance is unparalleled, with a subtle apple-like acidity and heavy cream finish; 87.5 points
