Introduction to Bolivian Coffee Perdo Rodriguez - Characteristics, Flavors, and Stories of Bolivian Coffee Beans

When it comes to Pedro Rodriguez from Bolivia, he is virtually a household name in the specialty coffee industry, almost considered the beacon of hope for Bolivia's coffee revival. Not only do numerous specialty coffee brands, such as Intelligentsia, eagerly compete for his beans annually, but Miki Suzuki, the representative competitor from Japan's Maruyama Coffee, used Geisha from Rodriguez's estates to win the championship in Japan and subsequently secured second place in the 2017 World Championship.

Speaking of Bolivian Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee must mention a Java coffee bean we recently cupped. Java can be considered a cousin variety to Bolivian Geisha, emitting distinctive and elegant flavors, with delightful sweetness and acidity, and a cream-like smooth mouthfeel.

Bolivia

Bolivia is a landlocked country in South America bordering Brazil. Bolivia possesses diverse terrain, from the high peaks of the Andes to vast salt flats, with an average elevation exceeding 3,000 meters. The constitutional capital is Sucre, while the actual government seat is La Paz, which sits at an altitude of over 3,600 meters, making it the world's highest capital city. The high altitude provides significant advantages for coffee cultivation, yet Bolivia's coffee industry remains relatively weak, with an annual production of only 223,000 bags (60kg each).

The low production stems from several reasons. First, transportation is inconvenient, as coffee-growing areas often have rugged and dangerous roads, making it difficult to transport coffee out. The North Yungas Road is recognized worldwide as the most dangerous road, basically hugging cliff edges without guardrails, and accidents frequently occur on foggy days. Hundreds of people die in traffic accidents here annually, earning it the nickname "El Camino de la Muerte" (the Road of Death). The harsh transportation conditions also create enormous difficulties for coffee transport. In recent years, the Bolivian government has recognized the importance of safe transportation for exports and is heavily investing in road construction.

Another important reason is Bolivia's small population of only 10.5 million people, with many living in poverty. Growing coca leaves (used for drugs) offers more guaranteed returns, causing many farmers to abandon coffee cultivation and even completely give up their farms. Coca cultivation requires extensive use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, causing significant soil damage. Additionally, when leaf rust struck in 2013, Bolivia lost 50% of its coffee production in just one year, directly reducing it to a minor coffee-producing nation.

Bolivian Coffee Development History

In 1880, Bolivia had substantial coffee production, primarily located on large farms north of La Paz.

In 1991, the government promoted a plan to encourage indigenous people to grow coffee, but did not emphasize coffee quality. The government's encouragement of coca leaf cultivation, which yields four times the profit of coffee, caused many farmers to abandon coffee and even completely give up their farms.

In the early 2000s, the United States strongly supported Bolivian agriculture, but due to the Bolivian government's support for coca cultivation, relations with the U.S. deteriorated, with coffee farmers suffering the most. Subsequently, under Bolivia's restoration of limited anti-drug operations, many beneficial coffee development programs were restarted, such as the Cup of Excellence (COE), which was held with USAID support.

In 2004, the Cup of Excellence (COE) was held in Bolivia, where 13 specialty coffee beans scored above 84 points in cupping, with the champion bean scoring as high as 90.44 points, causing green bean prices to rise accordingly.

In 2009, Bolivia participated in the COE competition for the last time. Due to political factors, Bolivia has not returned to COE to this day.

In 2013, leaf rust struck, combined with the government's coca leaf policy, causing Bolivia's coffee production to decrease by 70% over the past decade, reducing it to a minor coffee-producing nation.

In 2018, Bolivia signed a quality inspection agreement with China regarding Bolivian coffee exports.

In 2019, Bolivia's political turmoil once again made everything uncertain, as the coup caused cities to become paralyzed, making coffee exports extremely difficult.

Cultivation Model

Bolivian coffee can typically be traced back to single farms or cooperatives. Due to land reform, the number of large landowners has decreased significantly since 1991. The 23,000 coffee-producing families in Bolivia grow coffee on small farms ranging from 1.2 to 8 hectares.

Coffee Growing Regions

Bolivia's main coffee-producing region is Yungas, with cultivation altitudes between 800-2,300 meters and harvest periods from July to November. 95% of Bolivia's coffee comes from this region. Yungas is located on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains and is covered by forests that extend from Peru through Bolivia into Argentina. The region features some of the world's highest-altitude coffees and is Bolivia's oldest coffee-producing region. The government seat of La Paz mentioned earlier is located in the western part of this region.

Besides Yungas, coffee is also grown in Santa Cruz and Beni. Santa Cruz is located in the easternmost part of Bolivia, but due to insufficient altitude, high-quality coffee is rare, with cultivation accounting for about 3% of the national total.

The Rodriguez Family

The development of specialty coffee in Bolivia can be attributed to the Rodriguez family. The Rodriguez family began growing coffee in 1986. Due to policies, natural disasters, and other factors, Bolivia's coffee estates gradually decreased. To develop the coffee industry, the Rodriguez family began acquiring land and establishing new estates to grow high-quality specialty coffee, such as Bolivian Geisha coffee beans.

The Rodriguez family's coffee estates comprise a total of 12 farms, with 4 in Santa Cruz and 8 in Caranavi, La Paz. The estates achieve integration of harvesting, processing, packaging, and exportation.

The "El Sol de Manana" (Tomorrow Sun) program, initiated by the Rodriguez family in 2016, is a plan to support small farmers in growing high-quality coffee. By providing coffee farmers with more vocational training and knowledge, offering discounts on purchasing the latest coffee seeds and other related consultations, as well as more fair trading prices, while simultaneously setting up incentive mechanisms for farmers who seriously cultivate and achieve certain cupping scores, this program aims to improve local coffee quality, creating a virtuous cycle where farmer income and quality enter sustainable operation.

FrontStreet Coffee previously cupped a batch of washed Java Typica coffee beans from the Tomorrow Sun program, which possessed rich flavor profiles, gentle strawberry acidity, caramel sweetness, and slight cocoa and almond aftertaste.

Coffee Varieties

Bolivia's traditional coffee cultivation varieties mainly include Typica, Catuai, Red and Yellow Catuai, among others. With the advancement of the specialty coffee wave, in the past two decades, many coffee estates have introduced varieties such as Bolivian Geisha, Pacamara, SL28, and others. The Rodriguez family's Bolivian Geisha coffee bean variety comes from the world-renowned Hacienda La Esmeralda.

Java (Java Nica) comes from a branch of Ethiopian varieties called Abyssinia, which is a native ancient variety. This branch is actually the same as Geisha - same origin, same excellent floral and fruit flavors - which is why Java is often called Geisha's cousin.

However, FrontStreet Coffee must remind everyone that the Java mentioned here is different from Indonesian Java. Indonesian Java is actually a designation for a coffee-producing region, while Bolivia's Java is a coffee variety. Moreover, Indonesian Java has lost its innate excellent genes over hundreds of years of circulation, making the two different branches.

FrontStreet Coffee would like to briefly review how Java came to the Americas. After Indonesia, the Java variety first spread to nearby Timor island groups, then to Cameroon in East Africa, where it was first released for farmer cultivation in 1980.

In 1991, to provide more variety choices for small coffee growers while also considering conditions like low fertilizer requirements, CIRAD (International Center for Agricultural Research and Development) introduced Java to Costa Rica, after which it was brought to various Central and South American countries, and it was discovered that Java performs well in terms of flavor at high altitudes.

As Java varieties were cultivated in Central America, the Mierisch family of Nicaragua was the first to draw the specialty coffee market's attention to this variety. To distinguish Indonesian Java coffee from the Java variety, they named the Central American Java variety as JAVA NICA (meaning Java variety from Nicaragua). Java coffee has emerged in Central and South America in recent years, and upon arriving in Bolivia, it has been carefully cultivated by the Rodriguez family.

This year, FrontStreet Coffee cupped a Bolivian cocoa natural processed Java coffee bean, which came from the Rodriguez family. It originates from a small estate called Waliki, located in the Bolinda community, about 10 kilometers outside the town of Caranavi, La Paz, Bolivia, situated in dense, steep valleys at altitudes above 1,600 meters. The region's climate is cold, resulting in relatively long coffee cultivation cycles. FrontStreet Coffee will provide detailed information about this bean below.

Processing Methods

From the 1990s to the 21st century, thanks to foreign-funded development projects that established coffee washing processing plants, the vast majority of Bolivian small farmers use traditional washed processing methods. A few large estates, besides classic processing methods like natural, washed, and honey, are also experimenting with special processing methods such as anaerobic fermentation and yeast, with the Rodriguez family being among these few large estates.

As mentioned earlier, FrontStreet Coffee obtained a Bolivian coffee bean using cocoa natural processing, which was developed by the Rodriguez family. After selection and weighing, coffee cherries are carefully washed and placed on raised African drying beds, then turned every hour. After about a week, the coffee cherries are placed in cocoa dryers.

Cocoa dryers had never been seen before for coffee bean processing, however, Pedro Rodriguez of the Rodriguez family has been continuously innovating and trying different processing techniques, discovering that cocoa dryers can dry coffee beans slowly and consistently at low temperatures, thereby reducing the impact of weather conditions.

The coffee beans are placed in large steel barrels at temperatures not exceeding 40 degrees Celsius for about 35 hours, being turned every 30 minutes. After the coffee beans are dried, they are transported to La Paz for resting, then undergo dehulling at the drying plant. Mechanical dehulling and sorting are performed carefully at this plant, in addition to manual sorting under ultraviolet and natural light.

FrontStreet Coffee: Bolivia Waliki Estate Cocoa Natural Java

Bolivia Waliki Coco Natural Java
Coffee Region: La Paz
Growing Altitude: 1,600 meters
Coffee Variety: Java
Processing Method: Cocoa Natural Processing

Roasting Suggestions

To bring out the unique aroma and juice-like characteristics of the Java variety, FrontStreet Coffee adopted a light roasting approach.

Cupping Notes

Dry Aroma: Fermented, Grapes
Wet Aroma: Honey, Floral
Flavor: Grapes, Citrus, Honey, Nuts, Cream

Important Notice :

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