Each sip of Peru San Juan delights the palate with layers of sweetness laced throughout the cup. We find notes of sweet peach mingle with tangy pastry reminiscent of a lemon bar, finishing with classic hints of fudge. We’re excited to welcome a new coffee to our January line-up from a region we don’t consistently purchase from – Peru. Peru holds exceptional promise as a producer of high-quality coffees with high altitudes and fertile soils. The history of Peruvian coffee goes back to the 1700s and is a long and winding story impacted by the purchase and sale of land during the 1800s and early 1900s. After Peru repurchased and distributed 2 million hectares of land in the 1900s, small-scale coffee farmers began growing on the land they received. Today, Peruvian coffee growers are overwhelmingly small-scale; farmers usually process coffee on their own farms, mostly fully washed and pulped, fermented, and dried in the sun on raised beds or drying sheds. After drying, the coffee is sold in parchment to a cooperative. The remoteness and small size of farms typically mean that producers must work with intermediaries or cooperatives to bring their coffee to market. Cooperatives, such as the one this coffee comes from, greatly protect farmers from exploitation and can make a significant difference in income from coffee. This coffee comes from the cooperative APROCASJ (Asociacion De Productores Cafetaleros Agroecologicos “San Juan”), founded in early 2016 by 66 coffee producers committed to using good agricultural practices and certifications to improve the income and living conditions for member growers. APROCASJ members are smallholders, and the family does most of the work on the farm, occasionally with additional labor during the harvest season to help them carefully hand-select only the ripest cherries.