Pedro Castro Conurana -Cafe Flor de Mayo, 2008 COE Lot #2
Pedro and his family
Pedro at the award ceremony
Pedro watching the auction
Pedro Castro Conaruna, from the ProAgro Cooperative, is well known to us since we started visiting his farm as early as 2004. He has been producing coffee for more than ten years and has participated in the Cup of Excellence® competition twice before. In 2007 he won 20th place. Through hard work Pedro improved the processing of his coffee. “I was more careful with everything, harvesting at the right time, washing, drying in the platforms, storage, everything” he told us. His efforts have born fruit.
Not even Pedro could believe that he had won second place in 2008. Pedro’s family was one of the first to migrate to the Caranavi region from the high plains (the Altiplano) under Bolivia’s Colonization Plan. They established themselves in Colonia Barrio Nuevo where he still grows his coffee. Pedro worked various jobs for other growers until, at age 35, he had saved enough money to buy a lot in Chijchipani Alto in the Province of Caranavi. A decade of hard work has given him the experience he needed to achieve a Presidential Coffee.
”When I started, the quintal (bag of 100 lbs) sold for 30 bolivianos. Some years it went up to 500 bolivianos. Now it’s different. We earn enough to maintain our family for everything. Thanks to coffee my children are studying. The Cup of Excellence is good for coffee growers. It’s better. When we improve our product, that’s also an economic benefit for us". Pedro improved his house, invested in expanding and maintaining his coffee plantation and purchased equipment for the processing. This year he wants to do the same so that he wins first place in the 2009 competition. We wish him good skills and success. He is got what it takes.
After three successive rounds of blind cuppings the International Jury gave it a cupping score of 90.85 and awarded it a Presidential Award (given to the very rare world-class coffees that achieve a score above 90 points).
International Jury comments include: Acidity- orange (16), citric (13), bright (10), balanced (9), apple (3), lively (2) Mouthfeel- smooth (10), silky (6), syrupy (5), round (3), creamy (2), buttery (1) Flavor-Aroma- chocolate (12), orange (9), caramel (8), peach (7), honeycake (4), blueberry (3), green apple (2) Lingering mouthfeel, complex, well balanced, subtle. The number in brackets after a description indicates the number of jurors that agreed with that particular description.
