This coffee comes from a community called Uchubamba, located in the Monobamba district in the Central region of Peru. The name Monobamba is derived from two Quechua words. The first one is ‘Munay’, which as a noun would be translated into ‘wanting’, ‘appealing’ or ‘desiring’ and ‘Bamba’ means ‘extensive plain’: Monobamba, in other words means ‘Plain of desire.’ And if you would se the views from this mountain range, it is easy to understand why people gave the name to this place.
Uchubamba is part of the ‘Ceja de Selva’ or the Eyebrow of the Forest, which is usually how the ecosystems between the jungle (the Amazon) and the Andes are referred to. These are beautiful, high altitude areas that are suitable for growing excellent coffee. Farms in Uchubamba reach as high as 2000 meters above sea level. From these altitudes you can sometimes literally see the divide of the landscapes with changing vegetation as you look down and upwards. Above 2000 meters, most farmers also grow granadilla, an oval fruit with a shiny orange skin that belongs to the same botanical family as the passion fruit.
An increasing number of farmers produces honey as a way of diversifying income and supporting the diversity of their ecosystems simultaneously. The lot is a combination of coffees from the two neighbours Romulo Miguel Bernabe and Liduvina Aliaga Palacios. Both of them have been producers for many years, but only started focusing on the quality production in the past 3 years. They have invested in varieties such as Caturra, Bourbon and Typica and ensured that for this lot coffee from these varieties were harvested, selectively picked, of course. Directly after picking, coffee is depulped and then fermented for approximately 16-18 hours. And then it is washed and dried in solar dryer constructions.