Origin: Peru

Region: El Liro, Jaén, Cajamarca

Producer/Farm: Finca San Franscico

Altitude: 1750-1850m

Varietal: Sidra

Process: Anaerobic Washed

Harvest: 2022/2023

Importer: Conscious With Coffee

Cupping Score: 86.50

FOB/Volume: £17.06 per Kg / 43 Kilos

Roasted for Espresso and Filter

We taste: Toffee, Shortbread and Mandarin

The Story:

The Rubio family has been farming coffee on the same land for generations.  Blanca and Roxana’s grandfather originally managed the coffee fields for the owner of a large estate in the region.  In 1969, the Peruvian government initiated agrarian reforms, which split up the vast estates (held by a group of elite and powerful landowners at the time) and redistributed the land to the rural workers.  Following these reforms, the Rubio family had the opportunity to purchase a small parcel of the land which they had previously managed. In the 1990s, Consuelo and her husband began planting coffee trees on the farm, with an initial focus on cultivating Typica, Caturra and Timor.  

‍The family’s production of Sidra as their flagship varietal resulted from a series of lucky events. In the early 2000s, a friend gifted the family five Sidra plants that he had collected from a trip to Ecuador. The Rubio family forgot about the gift, only rediscovering the plants years later while Consuleo’s late husband was on a walk through the farm. Unlike the family’s other varietals – which had been affected by a leaf rust outbreak that year (a disease affecting coffee plants) – the small cluster of Sidra plants was in beautiful condition. Mystified, he sowed the seeds and the coffee’s unique profile blew him away. It was only after further research that the family connected the dots and recalled their friend’s gift from Ecuador!

The Rubio family takes a scientific, precise approach to processing – they measure and record the changes in the coffee cherries at every stage of the process to ensure a consistent cup profile. This Sidra underwent an anaerobic washed process.  Between August and October 2023, the cherries were selectively harvested when they reached an average Brix (i.e. natural sugar level) of 18%. They were then de-pulped and fermented in a restricted oxygen environment (sealed, airtight GrainPro bags) for 40 hours (until the pH level of the beans reached 4.0). The coffee was then slow dried in elevated mesh trays in the shade for 40 days.