Coffee Story
Julio Palli, a dedicated coffee grower, and his wife Lupe have been nurturing their half-hectare farm, Finca San Bartolome, in the renowned specialty coffee region of Caranavi, near Copacabana, for six years. His journey began with Agricafe's Sol de la Mañana Producer mentorship program, a significant part of the coffee production process. This program, spanning seven years, provides mentoring and education to smallholder farmers, empowering them to receive fair compensation for their hard work at the farm level. Julio and Lupe, with the help of their daughter, Brenda, are actively involved in cherry-picking and maintaining the coffee nursery. His commitment is evident in his plans to expand the plants on his farm by introducing a nursery for Gesha and Java coffee varieties.
Along with their team of seasonal workers, Julio and Lupe carefully hand-pick the ripe coffee cherries and deliver them via taxi to the Buena Vista washing station. The cherries are pulped and fermented at the washing station in a sealed stainless steel tank for 24 hours (with Musto). No oxygen enters the tank, allowing a punch-like, boozy aroma to develop and remain trapped inside. The wet parchment is then washed and carefully machine-dried until it reaches a moisture percentage of 11%. Once dried, it is transported to La Paz, where it can rest before being milled at the world's highest dry mill, 3600 MASL! Agricafe's dry mill, La Luna.
