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By K.C. O'Keefe
Amigos y Tostadores,
 Greetings from Lima Peru. Contrary to public opinion, K.C. O'Keefe has not disappeared in the jungle of Peru, kidnapped by tribal groups who would like to shrink my head. Rather, I have been busy establishing our office in Lima, entertaining roaster visits, cupping over 800 farmers lots, observing harvest in Cusco and Moyobamba, processing coffee here in Lima, and enjoying the company of a wonderful Latina.
Life in Peru continues to be an adventure. I'm learning to how to get on and off the mini-van busses without getting hurt (they don't completely stop for you to get on or off). Another learning experience is defending myself from the very creative pickpockets. I haven't lost a dime yet! False money is also an ever evolving science though. I recently learned that there is a new false 5 sole coin. We had an 4.2 earthquake in June, and my 7th story apartment swaggered a bit, but no damage (the building is 13 stories tall). Biggest personal news is that I finally received my residency (a story for a latter time). That's life in Peru, now onto coffee stuff.
The coffee harvest has just finished up and we are now in the full swing of processing coffee. In total we cupped over 800 samples for our Cafe Inkaico, Cafe Amancer and Cafe Selvanica coffees. We were able to install a sample roaster in the office, which saved a good deal of time traveling to the dry mill on the other side of Lima. Farmers' morale continues to be high and the number of farmers who want to be part of our program continues to explode.
A highlight of the harvest was the visit of three roasting companies; Has Beans Coffee, Cafe Lusso and Java Connection. During their June visit we cupped the top Cusco early harvest coffees and presented awards at a ceremony with the farmers in La Convencion, Cusco. Over 300 were in attendance and the winner, Mario Chauca, had a grin that wouldn't stop. Each time I have returned to the region since all the farmers ask, "When will we have the next festival?" The Soccer Tournament and Pacha Manka (earth cooked meal) were two favorites of everyone. The most impacting farmer comment was "No one has ever come from our cooperative or any other coffee business to come and tell us 'thank you'." It is hard to believe that this was the first "thank you" festival in a valley of over 3,000 coffee farmers.
Coffee production was down by over 30% nationwide and some local areas were hit with a 50% decrease. Practically speaking this means less money for the majority of the 110,000 Peruvian coffee farmers. Imagine that your income is cut by 30-50% in one year, a hard struggle for most. On the positive side, this low production gave motivated farmers a little less pressure in their processing time. This allowed them a bit more time to take careful attention to details such as picking only red cherries, and washing their fermentation pits. In general I was able to see an increase in quality with the farmers on a whole.
A direct positive impact Jungle Tech was able to make was the 200 solar tarps we sent in April for the harvest in Cusco. The tarps allow farmers in higher locations (where it is continually cloudy) to dry their coffee within four or five days (verses 10-30), preventing molds and funguses which has caused their coffees to be rejected in years past. The amount of mold problems from the communities which received tarps was almost completely eliminated this year!
This week the first containers will head out of Lima and arrive in the states the first week of October. We hope you all savor the results of this year's harvests.
Causachum,
K.C. O'Keefe
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