This coffee comes to us through our friends at Onyx Coffee and with the help of Rachel Bush, whose guidance made it possible to bring this one back to Westcliffe.
La Vicuña is a community-driven coffee from the rugged highlands of northern Peru, produced by an alliance of eleven cooperatives representing roughly 3,000 smallholder producers across Amazonas and Cajamarca. Their farms sit between 1,300 and 2,000 meters above sea level, where Castillo, Caturra, Catuaí, and Bourbon grow under native shade trees. This is not a single-farm lot. It is the collective effort of thousands of producers working toward a shared standard, and the cup reflects that.
What makes La Vicuña especially compelling is the infrastructure behind it. Through the ElevaFinca project, Onyx works directly with these cooperatives on farm renovation and agroforestry, replanting native trees alongside coffee to restore ecosystems while improving long-term productivity. A modern mill, co-owned by the cooperatives themselves, gives producers meaningful control over processing and quality. Every bag supports that foundation.
The coffee is fully washed, fermented for 23 hours after depulping, and patio-dried for 8 days. The result is clean, balanced, and quietly expressive. Our cup showed fudge, praline, and hazelnut, warm, grounded, and deeply comfortable.
That praline note is personal. Arrott's mother's side of the family is from San Antonio, and he spent what felt like whole years of his childhood there with his Nannie, Pops, and the Travis family. At places like La Posada del Rey, the line to pay the check always ended at a bowl of pecan pralines near the door. That specific sweetness, toasted, nutty, just barely caramelized, is exactly what this coffee tastes like. It is the kind of flavor that does not need explanation. It just lands.
And yes, this is our decaf offering. It drinks with the same intention and care as anything else in our lineup, because it is.
- Roast: Medium
- Region: Amazonas, Cajamarca, Peru
- Farm: La Vicuña (Eleven Cooperative Alliance)
- Process: Swiss Water
- Elevation: 1,300–2,000 MASL
- Variety: Castillo, Caturra, Catuaí, Bourbon
- Cup: Fudge, Praline, Hazelnut
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