Stonecutter Series: Peru Coyona Natural Process

Our Stonecutter Coffee is a rotating highlight series - a tribute to the rich history of Deer Isle-Stonington's granite quarrying industry that peaked in the early 1900s. These beans are selected for their "je ne sais quoi" and often come to us from unique coffee producing regions of the world, embracing inventive processing methods, and/or out of this world flavor from small farms. Limited amounts available, changing frequently, and now packaged in our one of a kind Stonecutter 10 oz. coffee tubes! These are the coffees that currently excite us a micro-roasters.

These tubes are a new package adventure for us. Designed and hand drawn by Deer Isle local Farrell Ruppert, they feature the slabs of granite quarried out of Stonington. Made of 100% FSC certified paper, soy ink, with gold foiled accents and a sticker of the current origin inside. For every tube made, a portion of profits are donated to One Tree Planted.

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Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui in Coyona is one of the oldest coops in the Canchaque region of Northern Piura, Peru – founded November 4, 1969 (and named after an indigenous hero Tukamaro II who led a revolt against the Spaniards on November 4, 1779). With a total of 200 members spread across 5 casilleros, this represents the vast majority of the local population in the region. Within that membership, half of the producers live in the town of Coyona itself with coffee fields located between 1,000-1,600 meters above sea level. This kind of proximity and cohesion is rare in rural cooperatives, offering their members greater opportunities for community impact and development. Coop Candorcanqui exports its coffee through Coop Norandino, the umbrella organization serving coop members’ marketing, financing, and technical training needs.

Since 2012, Cooperative Coffees has been working with Norandino to revive the traditional natural process coffees of the Canchaque region. "Prior to 1990, nearly 100% of [our] coffee was natural process,” says Norandino manager Santiago Paz. “This Canchaque coffee was famous worldwide for its special flavor profile.” Norandino and Coop Condorcanqui saw the first successful fruits of their labour during the 2012 harvest, when the farmers around Coyona produced three small-lots of natural process coffee. Characterized by its consistently sweet blend of tropical fruit and caramel flavors, full body and bitter cocoa finish, this very special coffee has now become a stable offering. The producers themselves say, recovering the Cafe Canchaque is both sentimental and a smart marketing move, creating a unique niche and distinguishing the region as one of the only producers of high-quality, unwashed coffees in all of Peru. 

This was a delicious coffee on the sample cupping table. It was good across the entire roast spectrum from light to dark roasted and we were torn as a group in our sampling of where to land. The lighter end had bright lime, cherry, tropical notes and a tea-like body the dark roast was dark chocolate cherry with a creamy body. We decided on a few degrees in into our sampling range, still a light roast, where the body starts to develop and give a great smooth cup.  We got tasting notes of toasted oats, dried cherry, and chocolate.

Tasting Notes: Toasted oats, dried cherry, chocolate

Roast level: Light

Location: Coyona, Canchaque region of northern Piura

Latitude: 5º South

Certified Organic & Fair Trade

All tubes come Whole Bean. For ground beans please select "Ground" and specify your brew method in the "Special Instructions" box in the lower left corner on the Cart page. Default grind is drip.

Not available for recurring subscription due to limited quantity.