Organic Bolivian Coffee from Villa Oriente
The best Bolivian coffees have a very sweet, very balanced cup and are deep berry in flavor. They’re creamy and sweet. Bolivian coffee is almost 100 percent arabica, mostly of the typica and criolla varietals. More than 90 percent of the coffee grown in Bolivia is produced in the Yungas area, a tropical region in La Paz with altitudes between 500 and 1,600 meters. Other important growing regions are Cochabamba, Santa Cruz and Tarija. The main Coop is Villa Oriente near La PAZ
Before 1991, most farms were owned by wealthy land owners, who had Brazil’s native people work for them. Then in 1991 a governmental land reform forced the larger landowners to return the farms back to the families who had originally owned them. These small farms, which range in size from 3 to 20 acres, now produce the majority of coffee (estimates range from 85 to 95 percent), despite the fact that often, only a small percentage of the land is dedicated to coffee.
Small holders use little or no fertilizers or pesticides. The coffees are typically hand-picked and washed, and then sun- or machine-dried. Bolivia sits high in the Andes Mountains, a location that has given rise to the country’s nickname as “Rooftop of the World.” With a landscape of snowy mountains, wide plateaus and tropical rain forests, Bolivia has ideal coffee-producing conditions
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