This coffee was produced by Carmela Aduviri in Copacabana, a small, remote settlement located 180 kilometers from La Paz in the heart of the Caranavi province. Carmela moved to the region at the age of 25 and has spent over 50 years working in coffee while raising eight children. Her farm, Carmelita, spans about three hectares and sits at an elevation of 1,400–1,550 meters above sea level. Due to the steep terrain, the farm is spread across five levels and features several corridors to make harvesting and transporting the cherries easier. Carmelita is planted primarily with a mix of Caturra and Catuaí varieties, with some Java trees as well. In addition to coffee, the family also grows mandarin and lime trees for their own consumption.
For this lot, Carmela delivered her cherries to Agricafé’s Buena Vista wet mill. After being weighed and sorted, the cherries are dried on patios for 48-72 hours and refined in a coco dryer until they reach the target moisture level of 11.5%. Once dried, the coffee is transported to La Paz to rest before being processed at Agricafé's dry mill, La Luna. At the dry mill, the coffee is carefully hulled and sorted using both machinery and a team of sorters who hand-select the beans under both UV and natural light.
The coco dryer, developed by Pedro, has become an effective drying method used on Los Rodriguez farms. It consists of a series of steel box containers that circulate warm air beneath the coffee bed, allowing the parchment to dry slowly and evenly. To ensure consistent drying, the coffee is manually stirred every two hours.
The Sol de la Mañana initiative was founded in 2014 when 10 local producers reached out to Pedro Pablo for help in accessing the specialty coffee market. Pedro Rodríguez realized that his responsibility went beyond managing his own farm; he also needed to support the producers who had been supplying them with coffee for years. After thoughtful discussions, the Rodríguez family concluded that the key to supporting these producers and reversing the country’s declining coffee production was finding a way to boost average yields. In order to earn a livable income from coffee, Bolivian farmers needed to produce around 30 bags of coffee per hectare. In response, the Rodríguez family created a curriculum to directly address this challenge, offering producers the training and skills necessary to increase yields and enhance the quality of their coffee.
Recommendation:
Resting time - 2-3 weeks.
Filter: 91-93c, 1:15.5-16
Espresso: 91c, 1:2.2-2.5
