Peru Tapir Andino Yellow Honey

The San Ignacio Province sits at the top of the Cajamarca region in Northern Perú where the Rio Canchis splits the country from Ecuador. The farms are located in the buffer zones of a protected natural area, and have seen spectacled bears, cock-of-the-rocks, jaguars, tapirs and peccaries within their boundaries. This means working with an organic methodology and certification is a strategic point because through these standards, a culture of protection of wildlife and species in danger of extension is encouraged and created.

Coffee here is commonly fermented in wooden tanks built from fallen Romerillo trees (regulations prohibit the chopping down of them.) This is because when coffee ferments it generates heat, and the wood is better at dispersing the heat and therefore ensuring an even temperature throughout the fermentation tank, whereas with concrete, heat would be absorbed and stored more easily in the sides, creating differences throughout the batch and inconsistencies in the final cup.

Tapirs were chosen as another animal found in the forests around where the coffee is grown. They can sink to the bottom of a body of water like a ripe coffee cherry, where they feed for up to 90 seconds.

For the yellow honey the tanks are used for removing floaters from the ripe cherry, with pulped beans then undergoing a dry fermentation in the tanks for 8 hours. Beans are then moved to a mesh tray in a poly tunnel where they will remain for between 15 to 18 days until dry.