Bolivia has always been a coffee originIn coffee talk, it refers to a coffee-producing region or country; such as, "I was just at origin." Of course "Origin" for most product we use is not... with great potential, the potential to have a unique Specialty coffeeSpecialty coffee was a term devised to mean higher levels of green coffee quality than average "industrial coffee" or "commercial coffee". At this point, the term is of... offering with unique cup character.: There’s no better way to learn about a coffee-producing country than to go there! And I finally had the chance to go to Bolivia as a judge for the 2nd Annual Bolivia Coffee Competition. Bolivia has always been a coffee origin with great potential, the potential to have a unique Specialty coffee offering with unique cup character. But I hadn’t had much luck in sourcing clean, defect-free Bolivian coffee samples. In 2002-3 crop, our fortunes changed when we had an organicGrown without the use of artificial fertilizers, herbicides, etc.: Organic coffee has been grown according to organic farming techniques, typically without the use of artificial fertilizers. Some farms... lot from the Aecar Co-op and it was a fantastic, delicate, nuanced cup, excellent in the lighter roasts. It was also perfectly prepared (without defects) and durable throughout the year. I was intrigued.
As it turns out, Bolivia does have all the ingredients to produce great coffee, especially in terms of altitude (plenty of that!) and seedstock: the plants are almost all traditional TypicaA coffee cultivar; a cross between Typica and Bourbon, originally grown in Brazil: Mundo Novo is a commercial coffee cultivar; a natural hybrid between "Sumatra" and Red Bourbon,... varietal, with some CaturraCatimor is a broad group of cultivars derived from a Hibrido de Timor (HdT) and Caturra cross, highly productive, sometimes with inferior cup flavor. The main issue is.... Much of the production is traditional Organic farming practice, with a lot of the co-ops certified Organic and some Fair TradeFair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach to empowering developing country producers and promoting sustainability.: Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach... also. Germany and Holland have been buying these coffees heavily for years.