Coffee Story
The coffee-growing region of Cajamarca in northern Peru has mountains and valleys, steep slopes, blue skies and hardworking people. Along many of those mountains' ridges, often wrapped in morning mists or draped in a curtain of afternoon showers, are the dirt roads that connect house to house, farm to farm, community to community. On his 5-hectare farm, 3 hectares of which are planted with coffee, Don Neptaly Santos and his wife, Liliana Heredia, work together to produce award-winning specialty coffee in the Shimania area of the Andean Cordillera. Neptaly is a cooperative leader there and has learned from the key person in the coffee program in the Chirinos coffee sector. Liliana is involved in the women's program at Pawquara. Neptaly and Liliana grow specific coffee varieties such as Gesha, Wush Wush, Caturra, Bourbon, and Pache. There are around 60 inhabitants in the community around the town of Caserio Shimania. However, the term "inhabitants" falls short of describing the interactive everyday collaboration and "mingas," which is shared work that many (often relatives and friends) share as they all work to improve the quality of their coffees. Thanks to their careful cultivation, harvesting, and processing, coffees like the lot from Neptaly are high-scoring, beautiful, and unique.
