December 13, 2008

Tingo Maria


The last few days I had the joy to travel to the upper Huallaga high jungle town of Tingo Maria. Willem Boot and I spent two days visiting the Divisoria Cooperative, which I first began to work with in 2003. It was great to see their 3 Q graders and new lab functioning well.

Our discussions with the farmers was intriguing. We explored questions around quality coffee and quality prices (sales of the coop). It was interesting to note that quality coffee does not always result in quality sales prices, a disappointing data point for believers in the Cup = Price model.



The second day we were able to cup some fantastic coffees, and took the extra time to discuss the cup profiles. I found the best coffee on the table to have syrupy chicha morada (purple corn juice), and fantastic silky body. Hats off to the Divisoria crew for their persistent pursuit of quality.

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