Los Rodríguez Batian (Samaipata)
Clean and transparent, with golden syrup sweetness and tropical acidity. Concord grape, star fruit and lime.
This 100% Batian lot is made up of single-day lots from four farms in Samaipata that are part of Fincas Los Rodríguez. Found at elevations between 1,600 – 1,800m above sea level, the farms are owned by Pedro Rodríguez and his family. Over the last decade, Rodríguez has worked tirelessly to build production and expand the market for Bolivian specialty coffee, helping hundreds of local farmers recognise and realise the potential of their land and crops.
Pedro began his journey in coffee by working with small producers in Caranavi, building a wet mill to process their coffee, and educating producers to selectively handpick their cherries. He also started to process small micro-lots from each of the producers, and because of the unique combination of heirloom varieties, rich soil and incredibly high altitudes, the results were outstanding.
However, despite increased international recognition for its quality, coffee production in Bolivia began to rapidly decline over a very short period of time for many reasons. Some farmers switched to coca – grown for the drug trade and illegal to produce in Caranavi – because it provided them with a high year-round income. For those still in coffee, their yields were also declining as a result of ageing coffee plantations, unsophisticated farming techniques, and leaf rust. The combination of these factors resulted in the nation’s coffee production declining by more than half.
In 2012, as leaf rust started to obliterate the production in many small farms, Pedro and his family began to invest in their own plantations, fearing that coffee production in Bolivia would disappear completely. This, they recognised was critical in order to guarantee a minimum level of supply and thus ensure the future sustainability of their business. They acquired land in Caranavi, near their Buena Vista mill and created their first farm, Finca La Linda. “This is where the dream started,” Pedro says.
The family’s first farms were planted in Caranavi, where their wet mill is located, but in 2012 they also started exploring the region of Samaipata. This was risky – coffee had not been produced in the region before; however, Pedro recognised the region had the right conditions to produce exceptional quality coffee, with high altitudes, nutrient-rich soil and a similar climate to Caranavi’s (with the main difference being Samaipata being a little less tropical and is also drier than Caranavi).
Pedro’s approach to coffee production has been extremely methodical, innovative and scientific. Along the way, he consulted with leading specialty coffee agronomists from around the world to help them produce exceptional coffee and build sustainable and healthy farms. A wide range of varieties has been trialled, along with different farming techniques to optimise quality and output. The family have carefully documented their findings at every step of the way, and continue to innovate and invest in improvements to produce the very best quality coffee they can. This particular lot is 100% Batian.
Named after the highest peak on Mt. Kenya, the Batian variety was bred by Kenya’s Coffee Institute and released in 2010. Since then, it has successfully been propagated in Kenya, with Latin American growers beginning to experiment with it in recent years. This is due to the fact that the variety is very adaptable, as it is suited to most climates and can start producing coffee in its second year (while more traditional varieties need three years before production is viable). The tree has high levels of resistance to rust and disease, and produces exceptional cup quality – as it is closely related to the very flavourful SL-28 and SL-34 varieties grown in Kenya.
The Rodríguez farms are some of the most organised and beautiful we have come across. Coffee is well spaced in neat rows and meticulously organised by variety, making picking and lot separation much easier to manage than on more traditional farms in the region. The farms are vibrant, luscious and healthy, and produce exceptional quality and yields.
Pedro and his family have invested a lot of time and effort into trying to make each of their plantations a ‘model’ farm that other producers in the area can learn from. Their learnings have also been shared with local producers through a training program that the family has developed called Sol de la Mañana. Head here to learn more about this wonderful program, and here to learn more about the incredible work the Rodríguez family and Agricafe are doing in Bolivia.
HOW THIS COFFEE WAS PROCESSED
At all of the Rodríguez farms, Pedro hires pickers that are trained to select only the very ripest cherries, and multiple passes are made through the farm throughout the harvest to ensure the coffee is picked at its prime. Selective picking is always very important and is particularly important for naturally processed lots like this one, to ensure a very sweet and clean cup. The Rodríguez family has found that the very ripest (almost purple) cherries provide the best cup.
After being inspected and weighed, the coffee was placed on a conveyor belt and was disinfected, in a similar process used for wine grapes. It was then carefully washed and laid out to carefully dry on raised African beds, and turned every hour for a total of 18 days until it reached 11.5% humidity.
Once the coffee was dry, it was transported to La Paz where it was rested before being milled at Agricafe’s dry mill, La Luna. At this state-of-the-art mill, the coffee was first hulled and sorted using machinery, and then by a team of workers who meticulously sorted the coffee again (this time by hand) under UV and natural light. The mill is one of the cleanest and most impressive we have seen – you can read more about it here.
