In 2012 the first coffee plants went into Cahuasquí soil. Three years later, fifty pounds of green coffee traveled to Napa Valley and came back with a number.
High-altitude coffee is one of the most sought-after categories in the specialty world. The cold slows the cherry and concentrates its sugars and acids into something extraordinary. At 7,700 feet, on a plateau between two rivers, everything ripens slowly.
In 2015 I carried fifty pounds of green coffee from Cahuasquí to Napa Valley. It was roasted professionally and entered into a single-origin espresso competition. It scored 93 points, tied for the highest in the competition, judged by palates including the critic Kenneth Davids.
What that number really measures is patience: the community that planted, the altitude that waited, and fifteen years of soil learning what a coffee plant is.
