The Extra Bold profile this month is a blend of three spectacular coffees. There's the Finca Un Regalo de Dios from Nicaragua, grown by Luis Alberto Baladerez, a coffee grown by La Victoria cooperative high up on the slopes of the Huila volcano, and lastly, another cooperative-grown coffee, the 249-member Korofeigu coop from Papua New Guinea.

Colombia: 

From the foothills of the Nevado del Huila volcano, this coffee was grown, harvested and processed by the La Victoria cooperative. The 50 members of La Victoria have been producing high quality coffee for generations, but were closed off from the rest of Colombia for decades because of guerilla presence in the region, as well as the difficulty in reaching the area on narrow, unpaved access roads. Luckily, our importer partners at Coffee Quest became acquainted a few years ago through their president, Andrés Perdomo.

So much work and tasting goes into approving each farmer's coffee to be included in this lot! Coffee Quest shared with us the steps the go through to approve each coffee for purchase: First off, they always ask that farmers first bring samples to evaluate, to ensure not only cup quality, but also that the coffees meet their strict physical requirements (proper moisture content and water activity are two examples). Upon approving the sample, they ask the farmer to bring all of the coffee down to the warehouse, whereby they then take a sample from every single sack, and evaluate it again to ensure the quality of the lot is equal to that of the sample.

Papua New Guinea:

The coffee from PNG was grown by members of the Korofeigu farmer group in the Ungai-Bena District of the Eastern Highlands Province. The cooperative consists of 249 members growing arusha and bourbon varietals on a total area of 220 hectares (543 acres). The coffee is cultivated in the valley and stretches into the mountainous area of the Bena region, reaching up to 1800 meters (almost 6000 feet).

Nicaragua: 

Finca Un Regalo de Dios is owned and operated by Luis Alberto Baladerez and his family. The farm is located in the Dipilto-Jalapa mountain range in the North of the department of Nueva Segovia in Nicaragua. In total, the farm is 179 acres, with around 130 acres planted in coffee.

Sr. Baladerez is no stranger to producing exceptional coffees. This year, he received 6th place in the Cup of Excellence, a national coffee competition. He also won 1st place in 2020, 1st and 5th place in 2018, as well as 3rd and 13th place in 2017. For more information about his processes and coffees, Stephen Levene from our importer partner Coffee Quest shared some video clips that help to highlight how special this producer and his coffees are:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_2aqhBB2F_/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvCPp-XBuRt/