Blog

May 30, 2019 Posted by

Jhonny Vidurrizaga


Over the last several years, a relatively new wave of heralded specialty coffee from northern Peru has begun rising throughout the industry. Jhonny Vidurrizaga is one of many producers being highlighted by this recent attention. But he’s by no means a newcomer— his family has been harvesting coffee on this land for nearly nine decades. Jhonny is a fourth-generation coffee producer, who along with his uncle, continues Finca Vidurrizaga’s consistent excellence in Peru’s Cajamarca department. Now in our third year working with Finca Vidurrizaga, we can personally attest via Metric’s co-owner and green buyer Xavier Alexander that “Jhonny is a man with a thirst for knowledge and a zest for life.”


Jhonny self-proclaims that his greatest passion is coffee and it’s hard to dispute that passion given the immense scale of his production. Along with his uncle, Javier Schuler, and his brother, Bernard, they cultivate a diverse range of coffee varietals such as caturra, catuai, cuscatleco, pacamara, geisha, java, obata, tupi, and orange bourbon. After cultivation, Xavier describes Jhonny’s processing as “pushing the boundaries in order to bring forth clean, bright and exciting coffee profiles.”


Our second lot from Jhonny this year is his cuscatleco lot. Similarly to his pacamara, it was grown at 1450 masl and it perfectly captures Jhonny’s skill. It was fully wash processed that showcases this unique varietal. The result is a clean cup with notes that are crisp with clarity and nuance. This second 2019 offering starts bold with mandarin orange and nutmeg complexity. A round macadamia nut note provides a comforting balance to conclude the cup and to capture what makes Jhonny’s coffees standout from the sea of other Peruvian producers.


Try Jhonny's Cuscatleco, here.