Bolivia Honey

Our importer, Cafe Kreyol, has partnered with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and producers native to the land on the edge of the Andes mountains, and bordering the Rainforest of the Madidi National Park (Amazon Forest). The land next to their farms is government-protected land, and together their sustainable business model was agreed upon and put into practice.

With the help of WCS, these producers have established a model of agroforestry, where the top of each hill or mountain remains untouched. Farming takes place under the untouched canopy on the center portion of the slope, and toward the bottom where the land is slightly more cleared and farmed. By using agroforestry, their soil is self-regenerating and extraordinarily sustainable. Not only are these farms certified organic, but they also have been certified Smithsonian Bird-Friendly, one of the toughest conservation certifications in existence. Instead of clearing rainforest, bird-friendly coffees grow underneath shade trees that sequester carbon, fight climate change and provide habitat for birds. Those birds include migratory species whose impressive journeys can take them from the backyards of the U.S. and Canada all the way to coffee farms in Latin America.

Our importer worked directly with one team member, Jorge Rojas, who instructed the numerous cooperative members to implement pH testing when picking, washing and drying the coffee to create a consistent, sweet and chocolatey profile. The producers can now maximize their quality as well as safely grow the quantity of their production, allowing them to earn about 300% higher than the fair trade minimum for coffee. They have been partnering with these farmers since 2018.

This coffee is both Organic and Bird-Friendly (Smithsonian), according to our importer, Cafe Kreyol.

For a brief explanation of what bird-friendly coffee is, see Distilled, Brewed and Reviewed's YouTube video.

And for a longer explanation of what bird-friendly coffee is, according to Distilled, Brewed and Reviewed, check out this YouTube video.

Region: Teoponte, La Paz, Bolivia
Producer/Farm: Regional Association of Organic Coffee Producers of Laracaja (APCERL), a collective of 30 farmers
Altitude: 1700m
Process: honey
Varietals: Castillo, Catimore, Typica and Yellow Catuai
Importer: Cafe Kreyol

Balanced body; subtle complexity; notes of caramel, honey graham cracker, pecan; sweet chocolate finish