PERU - PALTACHAYOC - (MEDIUM)-Rated 93 by Coffee Review!

ORIGIN: Peru DEPARTMENT: Cusco PROVINCE: La Convención DISTRICT: Santa Teresa VILLAGE: Paltachayoc PRODUCERS: Braulio Barazorda Borda; Valentin Champi Paullo COOPERATIVE: Huadquiña ALTITUDE: 1900 MASL VARIETY: Typica (ORGANIC) PROCESS: Washed FERMENTATION: 25-30 hours wet DRYING: 20-25 days on raised beds under parabolic cover

 

In the heart of the La Convencion Valley, Huadquiña is found in Santa Teresa, which sits at the base of the Templo de La Luna on the Urubamba river, all within the larger region of Cusco. 30 minutes from Quillabamba, a major coffee trading hub, Huadquiña has actually been in operation since 1964, but the quality potential of the region went unrealized as a large cooperative union ruled the larger Cusco region for decades with an iron fist, making the trade channels too opaque and choppy to navigate with any success. In 2015, the organization disbanded, and Cusco essentially became a brand new producing origin in its own right. La Convencion is far off the beaten path, a full 12 hour drive from town, crossing many a pass at 12,000 feet, and well worth the trip. With bourbon, typica, and caturra comprising the region variety landscape and altitudes of 1750-2200 masl, coffees from La Convencion are superb, full-figured and creamy with a profound sweetness of fig, muscovado, brulee’d sugar, and amber honey with yellow fruit notes of mango, peach, and yellow plum.

Sourced from the Cusco region of Peru, this lot represents a collaborative effort by producers Braulio Barazorda Borda and Valentin Champi Paullo. The coffee is composed of the Typica varietal, a classic cultivar often celebrated for its balanced profile and clean cup quality. Processed using the washed method, which typically emphasizes clarity and acidity, this selection from SkyTop Coffee highlights a complex sweetness.

The cup profile features a nuanced interplay of stone fruit and deep, caramelized sugars, including notes of fig, muscovado, brulee’d sugar, amber honey, mango, peach, and yellow plum. When evaluating such a diverse range of descriptors, tasters often find the flavor wheel to be a helpful tool for identifying and categorizing these specific sensory experiences. This particular offering, grown at 1900 masl, showcases the potential of high-elevation Peruvian coffee when managed with precise post-harvest techniques.