PRODUCER : Eli Espinoza Soberon
REGION : El Mirador Farm, Las Pirais, Chirinos, San Ignacio
ALTITUDE : 1800 - 2000 MASL
VARIETAL : Gesha
PROCESS : Natural

Eli Espinoza runs his family farm with a focus on exceptional coffee varieties—chosen with expert advice for their resilience, productivity, and standout cup quality.

He's deeply committed to innovation, especially in post-harvest processing. This lot uses a natural method, where cherries are fermented for 24 to 30 hours in sealed bags inside a vatted tank. The controlled fermentation brings out complex, layered flavours. After fermentation, the cherries are washed to remove mucilage, then slow-dried on raised beds in a solar dryer for 25 to 30 days.

This careful approach ensures even drying, preserves the coffee’s natural character, and results in a vibrant, consistent cup with distinctive flavour.

Cajamarca is a vast region in northern Peru, home to key coffee-growing areas such as Jaén, San Ignacio, Cutervo, Santo Domingo, and Hualgayoc. The geography here presents challenges for both farmers and exporters - many farms are located up to eight hours from the nearest town or point of sale.

Because of this distance, most farmers process and dry their coffee at the farm itself. Home processing gives producers greater control not just over quality, but also over when they choose to sell. If they were selling coffee as fresh cherry rather than as parchment, they’d need to sell it the same day it’s picked. That would mean accepting whatever price is offered that day, regardless of market conditions or personal circumstances like needing income later in the season to pay for school supplies or household expenses.