Bolivia has landed!

Published 18 Apr 2023

The arrival of our Bolivian shipment is always an exciting time at MCM! With a unique coffee producing history, dramatic landscapes and dedicated producing communities, beautiful Bolivia is one of the most complex and exciting origins that we work in. We love sharing stories from Bolivia, and celebrating the inspiring work of our producing partners there.

We have just landed our latest container out of this spectacular origin, which includes three specially- processed offerings still available: two outstanding natural lots from Agricafe’s Sol de la Mañana program, and an exceptional 100% Batian lot from Fincas Los Rodríguez. Scroll down to learn more about these delicious coffees, and let us know if you’d like to taste the landed line up!

Julio Paye Natural | Copacabana, Caranavi

Julio and wife Lupe Medina have been growing coffee on their farm, San Bartolomé, in the region of Caranavi for nearly three decades. Here, the staggeringly high elevation, rich soil and wide daily temperature ranges create the perfect conditions for coffee-growing.

For most of this time, Julio and Lupe depended on the local market to sell their coffee, meaning low prices and little consistency year-on-year. Things changed in 2016, when they joined Agricafe o de la Mañana program – an initiative aimed at improving infrastructure and farming practices to create a more sustainable future for coffee producers in Bolivia. Since then, Julio and Lupe have gone on to drastically renovate their plantation, resulting in a fivefold increase to their yields!

This year, we are thrilled to be offering a new lot from their farm: Julio Pave Natural. We fell in love with this coffee’s. strawberry jam sweetness and marshmallow texture the moment we cupped it, with notes of cherry and milk chocolate making it perfectly-suited to filter and espresso applications.

Carmelita Coco Natural | Copacabana, Caranavi

Carmela Aduviri has produced coffee in the steep hills of Bolivia’s Copacabana region for over 40 years. Her farm, Carmelita, is around three hectares in size and sits at an elevation of 1,500-1,670 metres above sea level. Here, with the help of sons Elvis and Luis, Carmela tends to mostly Caturra and Catuaí variety trees, which thrive in rich clay soil under the protective shade of native forest trees.

Since joining Agricafe’s Sol de la Mañana mentorship program in 2015, Carmela has significantly improved the quality and yields at her farm. She has found so much success through the initiative that she no longer has enough space to process cherry at her farm and delivers her cherry to Agricate’s Buena Vista mill for processing instead! This year, her natural lot was partially dried on raised African beds, then finished off in one of Buena Vista’s ‘stationary box’ (or coco) arvers – a series of steel containers that are typically used for drying cocoa pods – which use a gentle flow of warm air from
below the coffee bed to dry the parchment slowly and evenly.

Carmelita Coco Natural is an abundantly fruit-forward and winey coffee, with a beautiful structure and notes of pineapple, concord grape and custard apple. This lot is a crowd favourite every year, and we’re excited to have a very limited number bags still available!

Floripondio Batian Natural | Samaipata, Agua Rica

Established in Bolivia’s semi-arid region or Samaipata, Floripondio is one of four local farms owned and operated by the Rodríguez family. This 47 hectare estate (29 of which are planted with coffee) is found at a staggering 1,710 meters above sea level, and has a breathtaking view over the spectacular Andes mountain ranges!

Floripondio’s high elevation, tropical microclimate and distinct soil profile has made it the ideal place for Agricafe to establish their nursery in, which is made up of over 50 different coffee varieties. Through years of research and careful farming, the Rodríguez family have found Kenyan variety Batian to be an excellent performer under Floripondio’s conditions, as it is high yielding and has great intensity of flavour and vibrant acidity.

Floripondio Batian Natural is syrupy sweet, with a buttery body, and caramelised peach and mandarin in the cup. If you’re looking to add a showstopper to your coffee menu, this lot is for you!

We’re so excited to share these delicious coffees with vou. For those with existing reservations, expect dispatch updates from the team over the next few days, as we wait for the coffees to clear inspection and go through our internal QC processes. And it you’ve already requested samples, sit tight and we’ll get them to you as soon as they are available!