Counter Culture started sourcing coffees from the Cajamarca region of Peru in 2001. Organic lots from the high mountains along Ecuador’s southern border serve as staples for a wide range of our products, from year-round offerings to single-farmer lots. In 2018, we began an exciting new relationship with an exporter called Origin Coffee Lab (OCL). Jose Rivera, a longtime coffee professional with deep roots in Peru’s coffee trade, leads OCL.

During our visits to northern Peru, we’ve spent time with Jose and the OCL staff, as well as some of the producers they work with in communities surrounding the large towns of Jaén and San Ignacio. We’re impressed with their attention to detail in every aspect of quality, sustainability, and transparency from the farm, to the cupping table, to the dry mill. We’re inspired by how well-aligned the vision of OCL is with Counter Culture’s.

Damian Espinoza is a prime example of who OCL and Counter Culture seek in a producer partner. We first tasted Damian’s coffee a few weeks before the 2018 Peru Cup of Excellence, and we were unsurprised to see his name near the top of the competition’s winners list. Damian took the opportunity to invest his winnings from the Cup of Excellence into a small general store, along with a new home in the heart of his small village near Chirinos. With his farm in good shape, he decided to work toward diversifying his income—a challenge for many smallholder coffee producers across the globe. It’s precisely this savviness that excites and inspires us to work with Damian for years to come.