In My Mug Audio

Finca El Fuerte was named in honor of the 'Fort of Samaipata', which is a unique ruin in Bolivia. El Fuerte de Samaipata (Fort Samaipata), also known simply as 'El Fuerte', is a pre-Columbian archaeological site, unique in that it represents the legacies of Inca, Spanish and Chanè cultures and is one of Samaipata's main attractions. Situated in the eastern foothills of the Bolivian Andes, in the Santa Cruz department of Florida province, the archaeological site is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. El Fuerte de Samaipata is not actually a military fortification, but it is generally considered a pre-Columbian religious site, built by the Chané people, who were a pre-Inca culture of Arawak origin. There are also ruins of an Inca city built near the temple; the city was built during the Inca expansion to the southeast. Both Incas and Chanés suffered several raids from Guarani warriors, who invaded the region from time to time. Eventually, the Guarani warriors conquered the plains and valleys of Santa Cruz, and

The Kibingo central washing station is located in the commune of Kayanza in northern Burundi. The station itself lies at 1,893 meters above sea level, and the altitude of the farms in the neighbouring hills that supply the washing station vary from 1,700 to 1,900 meters above sea level. Kibingo services 3,553 registered coffee growers, spread over 18 hills in the area. The washing station is equipped with 10 fermentation tanks, 2 soaking tanks and a drying field with 165 drying tables and 4 pre-drying tables. Kibingo can process 750,000 kg of cherry per day. At cherry intake, a picking team sorts the cherries on maturity. This is essential for a fine processing, resulting in fewer damaged beans. The cherry skins are mechanically removed during pulping. Next, the sticky parchment will dry ferment for 12 hours. When fermentation is complete, the parchment goes down the washing and grading channel. Finally, the top quality coffee soaks for an additional 24 hours to remove any remaining mucilage before going to

The name of this coffee producer may sound a little familiar...Bebeto (Beto for short) is the son of the legend that is Teodocio Mamani. Teodocio owns Finca Canton Uyunense, which is a farm we have worked with since 2012. His farm is located in 18 de Mayo, which is a municipality of Caranavi (and part of canton Uyunense). Lots of farms can be called a variation on these names because the land traditionally tends not to have a name. This year is the fourth year that Bebeto has grown his own coffee under his own guardianship, and it's the third year that he has processed it himself too. And just like previous years, and as you'd expect from a Mamani, the results are delicious. Although Bebeto grows Typica, Caturra and Catuai on his farm, this is a lot of just Caturra. Bebeto used a depulper that removes the cherry, then left the coffee to go through a dry fermentation process for 16–18 hours, and then ran it through the scrubber section of the pulper to remove the final remains of the mucilage. Bebeto then t

Raul Perez has grown up around coffee, he comes from a fifth generation coffee farming family on his father's side, and a third generation family on his mother's side. Coffee has always been part of his life. Finca La Soledad has been a Pérez family coffee farm since 1895. The farm is located in Acatenango, near to the Acatenango volcano. It has a great microclimate at an altitude of 1,650 metres above sea level

We've worked with Ernesto Menendez in El Salvador for many years now and if you've been an In My Mug or Hasbean watcher for a little while you'll have probably heard me talk lovingly more than once about his farm La Ilusion, one of my first coffee loves. But Ernesto has got other farms too - who recognises the names Alaska, Los Andes and Los Brumas? They're great coffees we've been lucky enough to enjoy over the years. The farms, situated on the Santa Ana volcano, don't just get rave reviews from me and you, they're consistent competition winners. Each of Ernesto’s farms has had success in the Cup of Excellence competition and there are very few producers in the world who can boast the kind of consistent placing into the top ranks of this competition that Ernesto has had with his farms. On top of this, his coffees have been used by not one but two World Barista Champions in their winning performances - and I was involved in roasting both! First, in 2011, La Ilusion was used by Alejandro Mendez of Viva Espre

Finca Alasitas is the biggest farm of Fincas Buena Vista in Caranavi where, every year, a festival is held in honour of Ekeko (iqiqu), the God of abundance. It has everything in miniature but in abundance, just like him! "Buy me!" said Finca Alasitas... And well, we did! It's all in the name... Finca Alasitas (which literally translates to "Buy me" in Aymaran) is owned by the Rodriguez family who have been doing some awesome things for coffee in Bolivia. They have their own mills and process and export coffee for farmers all over the Caranavi and Sud Yungas region. The family have been sourcing coffee from small coffee producers for three decades, but unfortunately the steady decline of coffee production in Bolivia has put the sustainability of their export business in jeopardy. Without the efforts of people like the Rodriguez family the future of coffee production in Bolivia is at risk of disappearing completely. Back in 2014, the Rodriguez family bought land in the Caranavi region to showcase their pract