Bolivia: La Avanzada

This coffee comes from Jeivert Pañuni in the Irupana region of Yungas. This area is a little further away from Caranavi than most of the small producers we buy from in the Yungas, which makes it too far to process the coffee at the Buena Vista Mill, where the coffee's of the other producers we buy from are processed.

We actually bought a coffee from Jeivert back in 2016, but didn't see more coffee from him. This year, our friends at Agricafe (who run the mill and export the coffee for us) put some of his coffees on a blind cupping table and they really jumped out for all of us!

The town of Irupana is at about 1800masl and has a drier microclimate than Caranavi. The coffee farms around the town are on the hills which surround it and reach up to 2000masl - it's a very traditional coffee growing area, full of very small producers who sell their coffee as cherry in the town to traders. The varietals grown in the area are traditional ones - Caturra, Catuai and Typica.

Jeivert is a 2nd generation coffee producer and was part of the Irupana Cooperativo. This large coffee co-operative bought and processed nearly all the coffee in Irupana in 2016 - this was how we came to get his coffee back then! In 2017, Jeivert had been learning a lot at the Cooperative but was convinced there was a better way to get the best results (and value) from the great coffees produced in the region, so he set up his own micro-mill to process his coffee. This quickly showed itself to be a good choice, with the Irupana Cooperativo closing in 2019 as the number of local producers declined (many moving to Coca leaf production).

Jeivert has 5 Hectares of coffee at his farm, La Avanzada. Meaning "The Advance". this is named because Irupana was the home of Pedro Domingo Murillo, a 18th Century figure who is credited as an early revolutionary and patriot for the independence movement of Bolivia from Spanish rule.

Jeivert also built a special storage area for controlled drying of the coffee and has experimented with Washed and Honey processing. The feedback from Daniela Rodriguez of Agricafe was that the Honey was the way forward - both for great cupping results and because it's not such a common or popular processing style in Bolivia as Washed.

As well as processing his own coffee, Jeivert has a bigger business now buying coffee from other local producers. His partner in this is his friend Grover, who also has a 2 hectare farm. This La Avanzada lot is entirely from Jeivert's farm, but we also have a mixed lot this year, made up from coffee grown by both Jeivert and Grover.

This complex but juicy coffee starts with lychee and cantaloupe melon. There's a hint of floral honey before it finishes with a flourish of red grape. The full bodied aftertaste adds a layer of chocolate and nougat to the honey, with just a hint of the fruit lingering alongside.

• Country: Bolivia
• Department: La Paz
• Region: Yungas
• Province: Caranavi
• Town: Irupana town
  
• Producers: Jeivert Pañuni
• Farm: La Avanzada
• Altitude: 1,500–1,750 m.a.s.l.
• Varietal: Typica, Caturra and Catuai
  
• Processing method: Honey

Tasting notes: Lychee, cantaloupe melon, floral honey, red grape.

Cup of Excellence Cupping Scores

• Clean cup: (1–8): 8
• Sweetness: (1–8): 7
• Acidity: (1–8): 6.5
• Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6.5
• Flavour: (1–8): 7
• Aftertaste: (1–8): 6.5
• Balance: (1–8): 6.5
• Overall: (1–8): 7
• Correction: (+36): +36
• Total: (max. 100): 91

Roast Information
Medium-dark: Take this through the gap and up to the edge of second, keeping a steady pace to develop all the full sweetness.