Bolivia Floripondio

Department: Santa Cruz
Region: Agua Rica
Town: Samaipata
Altitude: 1,710m above sea level
Variety: Red Caturra
Processing: Semi-washed
Owner: Los Rodriguez Family

Tasting Notes

Floral and sweet with stone fruit acidity. Orange, peach, yellow plum, and rose. Balanced and clean.

Origin Story

HOW THIS COFFEE WAS PROCESSED

Pickers from the Samaipata community carefully handpick the coffee at Floripondio every day during the harvest. These pickers have been trained to select only the very ripest cherries and pass through the farm every day to ensure the coffee is only picked at its prime.

This coffee was carefully picked and processed on the same day at the Rodriguez family’s wet mill located at one of their nearby farm, El Fuerte. After being weighed it was carefully sorted by weight using water, and any floaters removed.

The coffee was then “semi-washed” which means that the coffee was pulped and dried without fermentation. The coffee was dried slowly in a stationary dryer for 60-75 hours with temperatures no higher than 40˚C. When the coffee reached 16% humidity it was rested for five hours in a silo, and then carefully dried until it reached 11.5% humidity.

Once the coffee was dry, it was transported to La Paz where it was rested before being milled at Agricafe’s dry mill, La Luna. At this state-of-the-art mill, the coffee is meticulously hulled and sorted using machinery and also a team of sorters who carefully sort the coffee by hand under UV and natural light to become what is, apart of the finest Bolivian coffee known today.

ABOUT FLORIPONDIO

Floripondio is one of the more recent farms planted in Samaipata, where the Rodriguez family has been experimenting with growing specialty coffee. Historically, this region has not been known for producing coffee, but after success in growing exceptional coffee at their first farm in the region – El Fuerte – the Rodriguez family has continued investing more heavily in the region, planting four more farms, including Floripondio, and building a wet mill to process the coffee.

Floripondio was established in 2014. The farm is 47 hectares in size, 29 of which are planted with coffee. The farm sits at a staggering 1,710 meters above sea level. This high altitude, along with daily temperatures ranging widely from 5 – 30˚C, helps to ensure a very slow maturation of the coffee cherries on the farm. The slow maturation leads to an increased concentration of sugars in the cherry and bean, which in turn helps to produce an incredibly sweet and complex coffee.

Because of Floripondio’s altitude, its tropical microclimate, and its distinct soil profile, the Rodriguez family has chosen to locate their variety nursery at the farm. To date, they have planted over 50 varieties and their objective is to work out which are best suited to the land and this particular latitude and altitude. Lemon and tangerine trees separate each of the varieties planted, and their fruit is sold at the local markets.