This fruity and vibrant blend of Caturra & Catuai is produced by four individuals (Mercedes, Marcelino, Juana and Elvis), whose farms sit on the western slopes of the Andes Mountains in Bolivia (at 1550-1700 M.A.S.L). They are members of the Sol de la Mañana Project - a training program for coffee producers in the Caranavi region to equip them with skills to elevate their coffee quality and volume in a sustainable way. This single origin lot is a testament to the project’s success and the producers’ hard work – it is beautifully clean and balanced with ripe stone fruit sweetness, raspberry notes, and juicy orange acidity.
The Sol de la Mañana Project was set up by the Rodriguez family (Pedro and his children, Daniela and Pedro Pablo), one of the most highly respected coffee producing families in Bolivia. In 2014 a group of local producers approached Pedro requesting support and guidance on how to increase the quality and yield of their coffee. The family established the Project as a mentoring program to guide these producers through every step of coffee farming – from setting up their nurseries to the benefits of careful pruning and using fertiliser. Pedro Pablo also visits each producer’s farm on a monthly basis to provide feedback on their farming practices, and they also benefit from weekly engineer visits.
The program has been an undeniable success. Producers have substantially increased both the quality and volume of cherries produced every harvest (in many cases, from 10 to 25 bags of cherries per hectare of their land), translating to a higher income, year on year. The members of the project also have the opportunity to sell their coffee cherries to the Rodriguez family. Each producer receives 70% of the price sold for their coffee.
The Rodriguez family takes a precise approach to processing, which is undertaken at their own wet and dry mills. This means quality assurance is built into the Project from start to finish. After receiving the ripe cherries from producers, they add them to a tank filled with fresh water, which removes dust and debris. The under ripe (i.e., lesser dense) cherries float to the surface, where they can be skimmed off. The remaining cherries are fermented in steel tanks for 48 hours. This is followed by a controlled slow-drying process in a mechanical dryer for 100 hours (at a maximum of 35°C). Once the coffee reaches the desired moisture level, they are sent to the dry mill built by the Rodriguez family for milling, grading and sorting.
This is our first year working with the Rodriguez family, and this b of Caturra and Catuai is one of two lots that we purchased. It was harvested in August 2023 and landed in the UK in December 2023.
After sampling the coffee while in Bolivia, we agreed the Free on Board price with the Rodriguez family (that is, the price of the green coffee delivered to the port of Arica in Chile). We paid the Rodriguez family directly for the coffee, with the support of Monmouth Coffee Roasters (who were also importing coffee from the family). Monmouth also supported us to ship the coffee to the UK.
For further details on the prices below visit our Transparency Page.
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