Boliva Lucía Núñez Geisha

It is not easy for foreigners to connect with coffee producers in chaotic environments like Bolivia. Politics, culture, power relations, human relations, and the harsh natural environment are all intertwined and drag us further and further into chaos. The most famous Bolivian producer is Agricafe, and the rest of the producers remain in a black box.

Juan Boyan Guarachi, the man behind Nayra Qata, is a key person to unravel such a black box. He retired from Agricafe, where he worked for many years, and built a dry mill in La Paz last year. He started working with smallholders to process their coffee.

Juan’s ambition is to shine a light on smallholders in Bolivia who are still unknown to the world. Many smallholders come to Juan’s dry mill with their coffees. He can judge the quality correctly, process it properly, manage lots, and deliver them to coffee markets around the world. From a roaster’s point of view, Juan is the only point of contact for smallholders in Bolivia that no one knows yet.

When we cupped the new harvest sourced by Nayra Qata and Typica, Lucía Núñez’s geisha was the start of the show. Lucía Núñez and Juan Pinto run their farm as a couple, each with a unique role: Juan oversees the production of Catuai, while Lucía manages Java and Geisha production. Juan Pinto previously worked at Agricafe’s wet mill and lab, while Juan from Nayra Qata worked at Agricafe’s dry mill during the same period, giving them a long history as former colleagues. Juan’s experience in quality control, evaluating coffee from small producers during his time at Agricafe, along with his strong assessment skills, ensures the high quality of the coffee produced by the couple.

In this lot, we’ve found sweetness and acidity reminiscent of pear, florals, and body similar to white tea, and sweetness like that from golden raisins.