La Flor Del Zapote

Meet La Flor del Zapote

Northern Peru is legendary for producing coffee with bright, rich flavors. At some of the highest global growing elevations, the “Amazon Andes” yield some of the best developed flavor profiles in the world. This is the second year in which we are working with the Family from La Flor del Zapote and we look forward to continuing to develop this relationship for many years to come.

The Farm

The zapote is a fruit tree indigenous to Central and South America that produces both delicious fruits and delicate white flowers. The farm, La Flor del Zapote, took its name from these beautiful trees that surround it among the high mountains of the Peruvian jungle. The farm itself sits at an elevation of 1,700 meters nestled between the villages La Palma and Las Pirias, in the district of Chirinos and the province of San Ignacio in Peru. The coffee produced in this region is Strictly Hard Bean (SHB) and known for its high quality. All of the crops grown on this farm are produced using only organic fertilizers and the family leverages shade coverage provided by the surrounding fruit trees, and wild flowers.

The flower which gives the farm its name

The Farmers

La Flor del Zapote is now four decades old and run by Rony Lavan Guerrero and his family of 8. Everyone on the farm works extremely hard, day after day, to grow and harvest high-quality coffee. The production is modest at around 200-250 qq per year, managed mainly by the family with the help of 5-7 local workers hired during the harvest season.

The farm is located between the villages of La Palma and Las Pirias, in the district of Chirinos and the Cajamarca department in Peru. The community is home to around 2,000 inhabitants with the children of the families attending La Palma school which provides education up to 8th grade for around 180 students.

Rony, the owner / farmer of La Flor del Zapote

The Coffee

Coffee production at La Flor de Zapote consists of 40% Bourbon, 10% Caturra, 30% Pache and 20% Catimor. Surrounding fruit trees provide shade coverage and only organic fertilizers are used. During the winter harvest, fully ripened cherries are hand-picked, wet-processed and allowed to gradually sun-dry concrete patios for 7-12 days. Parchment is driven to the local dry-mill, Rain Fores, where it undergoes a meticulous sorting procedure. Once ready for export, the parchment is hulled and the green coffee is loaded into Grain-Pro lined jute bags for shipment from the port of Paita. Our team travels with the coffee, monitoring its movement at each stage of this process in order to ensure its successful passage from the farm to our facility.

Cupping Notes: Orange glaze, Custard, Naval Orange, Honeydew, lavender, strawberry; soft and sweet

Roasting Notes: Solid and sterling all the way through, La Flor del Zapote roasts easily and with little unusual manipulation. Lots of cocoa powder and orange zest from the charge through the turnaround signal what’s to be unpacked from the drying phase through the development: orange notes fatten into ripe apricot, realizing a full malic and more subtle citric acid profile at yellow. Stray floral notes punctuate the roast at odd intervals, which express most clearly at lighter roasts around the city level. More developed roasts furnish heavy cocoa with orange accents, maintaining middling notes of custard and panela. More gradual approach w/ lower RoR and entry into 1C yields cleaner profiles w/ more complex structure.

Beans being prepared for delivery to the mill

We are currently selling La Flor del Zapote in 1, 5, and 25 lb quantities. If you would like to purchase larger quantities (i.e., by the bag or pallet) or would simply like to learn more please Contact Us , we would love to hear from you!