Bolivia Organic Taypiplaya Estate

Bolivia has many of the factors necessary for cultivating good coffee, altitude and seed stock being of great importance. The mountainous region of Caranavi is rife with nutrient rich volcanic soil, and with agreeable climatic conditions for growing coffee. There is a small-holder tradition in the region, and many of the farmers holding a few hectares of coffee, some of which are planted in coffee. Old typica varietals are most common in the region with some Caturra often mixed in. This lot is from the sub-municipality of Taypiplaya, and is an organic certified lot from the farm of Edwin Copa. The preparation is really nice, and with the exception of the occasional pulper-nicked bean, the defect count is nearly 0. It's a fairly dense coffee, and one that can take quite a bit of heat up front for those who have temperature control on their roasters.

The ground coffee has a smell of golden raisin and honey, City+ is like oatmeal cookies. Edging toward Full City and the picture shifts toward bittersweet chocolate and molasses sugars. Hot water brings up a thick, buttery caramel scent in the steam, butter pecan ice cream comes to mind. The sweetness of this coffee is nice and dense, and it strikes the best balance of sweet/bittersweet flavors in the City+ to Full City roast range. As the cup cools, recall flavors of brown sugar candies and black currant, fine chocolate, and a hint of dried, sweetened berries. Acidity is mild, but still makes a malic impression on the cup. Body builds when reaching Full City and beyond, and the cup is suffused with flavors of bittersweet, dark cacao bar. This makes a decent shot of espresso too, chocolate and tart berry reaching their apex at Full City+.

Taypiplaya microlot strikes best balance of sweet/bittersweet flavors. A base sweetness of brown sugar is topped with notes of dried berries, black currant, and dark chocolate bar.