Southern peru

Pacaysuizo

This is the second year to offer coffees from the remote village of Pacaysuizo, Peru. To reach this community, one embarks of quite the journey: NYC to Lima (8 hour non-stop), Lima to Juliaca (1.5 hour flight or 23 hour bus), Juliaca to Sandia (5 hour drive), Sandia to Quiquira (1.5 hour drive), Quiquira to Massiapo (1 hour drive), Massiapo to Pacaysuizo (2 hour walk). If that was tough to read, imagine traveling it. As you would expect, Peru has horizontal divisions (regions, provinces, districts and communities) but the Andes present another challenge: a vertical division that consists in the division of 8 ecological regions according to the height of each zone. From these 8 regions, our 5-hour trip from Juliaca to Sandia crosses through 4 of them: Puna region (4800-4000 meters above sea level), Suni region (4000-3500 masl, Quechua region (3500-2300 masl) and Yunga region (2300-1000 masl). Crossing so many altitudes in such a short time you'll see an enormous variety of climates, lands, fauna and flora, but your body’s equilibrium may be heavily affected if not used to this kind of travel.

The path from Massiapo to Pacaysuizo is a steep, often washed out, walking path that will take you at least two hours to travel. Once you arrive to there, you’ll find roughly 300 people that is made up of mostly elderly and children. The closest internet or cellular service is in Massiapo, so most young adults go off looking for better opportunities in more urban areas. There are no hotels, restaurants, bars, or anything of the sort in the area, just a health center, 3 shops, and a small primary school that recently opened for about 20 to 30 students. The 5 establishments are located on the side of the main “road" of Pacaysuizo, with a majority of farmers living a 2-3 hour walk uphill from the main strip. People here are used to living life in poverty, if not extreme poverty. All around is undisturbed vegetation where the houses are hidden within amongst the cultivation of coffee and coca. Despite all these difficulties, the coffee producers in this area continue to strive towards the highest quality coffees possible, making the most of the richness of the land that surrounds them.

The Quilla brothers are from a large Quechua-speaking family born into poverty in the Quilcapunku area of Puno. By the age of 15, Juan and Abdon found themselves in Pacaysuizo as they looked for work as harvesters of coffee. With the amount of land available, the two eventually left their parents and siblings behind to migrate full time to Pacaysuizo with the hope to find a future of their own in the mountains. Neither Juan nor Abdon were able to finish primary school, which is the reality of a large part of the population in this area, so neither knows how to add or subtract and have a very limited literacy outside of their tongue of Quechua.

The main pillar of the two families and their coffee is Juan’s wife, Bernardina. She connects them to the outside world, being the only one with a cell phone. Every Sunday, she travels to Massiapo for grocery, does the accounting for the two farms, and calls the Red Fox team to schedule pick ups from the Pacaysuizo highway when coffee is ready. Without Bernardina, Juan and Abdon’s coffees would never reach the specialty market that they’re at now. The farms of Juan and Abdon, Quillabamba and Chillimana Chucalpampa respectively, are located a 2 hour walk from the only access road to Pacaysuizo. The position of both farms is unique where each is located on different sides of a mountain. The only way to get from one to the other is through a very precarious, artisanal bridge that was made by the residents of the community. These coffees will be carried down to the highway by all three, Juan, Bernardina, and Abdon. Carrying a 46k bag of coffee each, the journey is steep and will take up to 4 hours when loaded down. The Quillas face challenges every day, but this does not dampen their desire to produce some of the best coffees in the region. This excellence in quality has led them to receive recognition within their small community where they are considered stars. Their hard work has achieved the special coffees they now offer. The surname Quilla is very special in Quechua culture, referring to one of the greatest deities of the Inca culture, the Moon, mother of all plants and marker of the best harvest times. Their excellence in agriculture is truly a fulfillment of their family name.

Juan Quilla Laura was born on June 24th,1968 in the mountains of the Quilca region in Puno, Peru. Juan’s first experience with coffee was in 1984 when he worked as a day laborer, helping other people with their production, while learning how to cultivate and process coffee cherry. He eventually bought his own land and began his own production, making his home in Pacayzuiso. In the beginning, nothing came easy and Juan’s family struggled to purchase basic amenities. It wasn’t until years later that he received a donation from the United Nations project, and he was able to choose seed that was more resistant to disease and had a higher rate of production. Juan has been cultivating coffee on Finca Quillabamba for eight years, where Bourbon trees are planted 1.5 x 1 meters apart on two hectares of land.

Soft and elegant from the start, there’s a floral aspect that weaves fruit and flowers into milk chocolate and cream. Somewhere between fresh plums and prune, jasmine and lavender, sweet lime and tangelo, Juan’s coffee has never ending sweetness. As the sweetness condenses and works itself into cream, it plays like a nougat candy being dipped into milk chocolate. Balanced, nuanced, and moves with grace, I fall in love all over again with every sip. You’ve done it again, Juan Quilla.

Abdon Quilla Ochochoque was born on August 15th, 1976 in Yanamayo, Peru. Producing coffee has been a way of life for his family and himself for a long time. When Abdon’s father passed away, he began to explore different ways to generate income for his family, and during that moment he knew that coffee production was in his future. Later, Abdon inherited land where he first began growing coffee and has persisted to do so despite many challenges. Producing quality coffee is always on the forefront of his mind. Since joining the local cooperative, he has received educational and technical assistance that has taken his production to the next level.

Fruited from the jump, Abdon’s coffee displays blood orange, nectarine, and a mix of berries as it instantly quenches. Though the first impression is refreshing, flavors quickly are thickening into a vanilla custard and dutch chocolate that expands in texture and comforts you with richness that turns to syrup. As this cools, there is a last second lift like lemon candy, dried pineapple, and black iced tea to bring us back to the first impression. Outstanding work, Abdon.