Peru

El calambre. It translates to “cramp” in Spanish. It might as well have become my nickname after the first day on the farm. It was our first day heading into the mountains, and we woke up early to get a head start. We left the city of Jaen and drove north on the highway into…

The flight to Piura was uneventful, and we met up with Elmer, the partner of Farm to Roast, and our Peruvian guide for the trip. We met our driver for the trip, Robbie, who warmly greeted us and loaded up our gear into his truck. After introductions and exchanging pleasantries, we departed the airport and…

“We’re in it now.” I knew a little bit of Spanish. Two years in high school as a primer, and living in a heavily Hispanic area in New Jersey helped to at least be familiar with some basic language structure and speech patterns. A half-hearted attempt at language learning software a few years back also…

It has been a week since my return from Peru, and although it was good to get back to the normal routine of roasting and brewing, a small part of me wishes I was still visiting farms and getting to know the true source of the coffee we work with every day.  Being able to…

At the end of August 2017, we will be heading to South America, to visit several small coffee farms. This will be our first origin trip, and our first attempt to bring home something that is truly unique. In the next few weeks, we hope to secure outstanding single-farm coffee, trading directly with the producers…