OUR OFFERINGS - ANJILANAKA, DIRECT TRADE ORGANIC BOLIVIA

Region: Caranavi
Altitude: 1700-1900 masl
Varietals: Typica, caturra, bourbon
Harvest: June - August

Characteristics

Flavor: Green grape, melon, pear
Acidity: Sweet-tempered
Finish Black walnut, cane sugar

Tasting Notes

Impressive in its silky mouthfeel, Anjilanaka washes across your palate with the serene sweetness of green grape and melon.  A presence of creamy milk chocolate is noticeable during the entirety of the taste experience. With the tranquil nature of the acidity and softness of the body, Anjilanaka creates a calming cup finishing with cane sugar and hints of black walnut.

K.C.'s Notes

Red & yellow cattura at the Buena Vista Mill.

Intelligentsia works with the world’s most progressive and outstanding exporters. They all play a crucial role in delivering our coffees from countries around the globe. Yet we feel it is just to give special recognition to efforts which otherwise would never be known by the world or our consumers. That is why we named AGRICABV S.A. the 2007 exporter of the year. Exporters are many times perceived as the “evil” buyer in developing countries, motivated by riches and practicing exploitation of those in disadvantageous circumstances. While this may be a true classification of some colonial-minded exporters, the generalization certainly should not be wielded over all the exporting community.

AGRICABV S.A. is a private enterprise in Bolivia which embodies the progressive-minded private exporting business of the 21st century. They go to every effort to honor the farmers’ craftsmanship and quality production. Pedro Rodgriguez has done a wonderful job at leading his team with a balance of business execution and passion for his fellow countrymen.

Our meeting in the spring 2006 was providential. They were already working with individual farmers and had a fully traceable audit system in place. They had two cupping labs with trained cuppers who selected and sorted the coffees based on sensorial analysis. In May of 2007 I had the privilege to travel to Caranavi, Bolivia to celebrate the success of the 2006 harvest with the farmers and AGRICABV S.A. When it came time to my audit of the 2006 payment distribution, I was pleasantly surprised at the presentation of the most organized and well put together tracking notebook I’ve seen in my 10 years of origin experience.

Their completion of transparency is only equaled by their execution of quality milling and exportation, which has resulted in the best Bolivian coffee the world has ever tasted: Anjilanaka.

The initiation of this project coincided with our decision to open our Silver Lake store and Roasting Works in Los Angeles, and we decided to name the coffee Anjilanaka (pronounced on-hee-lah-nah-ka), the local Aymaran word for “the angels”. The logo was created by one of the most well-known artists in the country, Sr. Mamani Mamani, whose work Geoff Watts (Intelligentsia’s Coffee Buyer) first saw while in La Paz en route to Caranavi. Geoff met with him to discuss the project and he was intrigued by the connection between his work and our own work in coffee. Mamani’s art explores a heritage that formed from the merging of indigenous Bolivian culture and European influences, and coffee, after all, was not native to the Americas…it was brought by Europeans and has now become a profound part of the agricultural landscape. As Mamani works to promote individual Bolivian farmers, our coffee endeavors are focused on bringing a new level of recognition and support to individual growers.

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