Peru — Sixto Infante Gonzales, La Plata, Washed Bourbon & Caturra

Tastes Like — 🍊 Orange Cream • 🍑 Apricot • 🌿 Brown Sugar •

DETAILS

• Producer: Sixto Infante Gonzales
• Farm: La Plata
• Region: El Obraje, Querocoto, Peru
• Varietal: Bourbon & Caturra
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 2,208 MASL
• Harvest: October 2025
• Size: 250g

INTRO

Grown at a remarkable 2,208 metres above sea level in the hamlet of El Obraje in northern Peru, Sixto Infante Gonzales's small lot from his farm La Plata is impressively clean and complex. A bright acidity is balanced by a comforting creaminess, with notes of orange cream, apricot, cardamom sugar, and bergamot threading through the cup from first sip to finish.

This is high-altitude Peruvian specialty coffee at its most expressive — a small lot that punches well above its weight.

THE PRODUCER

Sixto Infante Gonzales manages La Plata, a 1.75-hectare farm in the hamlet of El Obraje, Querocoto, where he cultivates Caturra and Bourbon at an extreme elevation of 2,208 MASL. He first planted coffee sixteen years ago and the farm has since become his primary source of income, farmed today alongside his wife. Sixto is actively passing on his knowledge and passion to his grandchildren, looking ahead to a future of innovating and producing ever-higher quality coffee.

He is one of the founding members of the Rutas del Inca Agricultural Cooperative — an organisation dedicated to quality that supports its 326 members through technical training in post-harvest processing and agroforestry. This kind of collective investment in knowledge is helping to position northern Peru as a serious force in the specialty coffee world.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at La Plata involves:

• 🍒 Selective Harvest — Cherries picked at peak ripeness and floated to remove defects
• 🧪 Cherry Fermentation — Whole cherries fermented in sealed tanks for two days
• 🔧 Depulping — Cherries depulped following the initial cherry ferment
• 🧪 Extended Post-Depulp Fermentation — Seeds fermented for a further 72 hours
• 💧 Washing — Seeds thoroughly washed in clean water
• ☀️ Raised Bed Drying — Dried on raised beds for 10–20 days until ideal moisture is achieved

The long, staged fermentation — first as whole cherries, then as depulped seeds — builds the cup's characteristic brightness and aromatic complexity.

THE CUP

Clean and complex with a bright, uplifting acidity and a satisfying creamy body. Orange cream and bergamot open the cup with elegance, giving way to ripe apricot and a gentle, spiced sweetness of brown sugar on the finish. A standout lot from one of Peru's most dedicated smallholder producers.

Flavour Notes

• 🍊 Orange Cream
• 🍑 Apricot
• 🌿 Brown Sugar