Richard Chuarata’s farm is located in the rural Yanatile district of Calca province, in the Cusco region of southern Peru. Growing up with coffee producing parents, Richard credits most of what he knows to his early introduction to the trade. Today his coffee farm is truly a family affair. With his son assisting with tree care, coffee fermentation, and processing, and his wife, Guillermina, largely in charge of selling the coffee and feeding the workers, Richard is keen to point out the important role each member of his family plays in the overall function of the farm. After a number of years slowly investing in improvements, particularly when it comes to drying infrastructure, Richard and his family have seen quality improve on their farm, and hope to continue that trend while also increasing volumes in the years ahead.

This 2023 harvest selection represents the second consecutive year we’ve bought a lot separation from Richard’s farm. Richard is one of a growing number of single-producer Reserve Lots that together represent an evolving chapter in the Passenger's Foundational sourcing program in the Cusco region. While our team has bought and presented coffees from Cusco for many years, it was only more recently that Cusco officially joined the Foundational menu alongside our five other year-round offerings from producers in Ethiopia, El Salvador, Colombia, Burundi, and Brazil. For each of these Foundational Partnerships, the goal is the same: to try to add value for the relevant producers as a reliable, ongoing buyer - intentionally prioritizing the purchase of a broad representation (i.e. not just the 'cream of the crop') of the coffees and quality grades that each partner produces.

To that end, Passenger’s green buying team is working with our Peru sourcing partners at Caravela Coffee to carefully evaluate each small delivery of coffee that each member of a small group of Cusco farmers produces throughout the harvest. By tasting each lot individually, we are able to make collaborative decisions regarding which lots to blend for the Passenger Foundational offering, and which lots to feature as special separations - as we are with the present Reserve Lot from Richard. This is the same purchasing model that informs the development of all of Passenger’s Foundational Partnerships and, given the nascent stage of these relationships in Cusco, we are especially excited to be seeing these single producer lots added to the menu for a second consecutive year.

Of the 9 hectares that make up Richard Chuarata’s farm, about a third of it is currently dedicated to coffee production, generally of bourbon and typica varieties. At around 1700 masl, Richard’s farm is slightly lower in elevation than some of the other producers we’ve recently featured from this region, but his coffee is no less delicious, bringing impressive sweetness and stone fruit flavor to each cup.