The place
Caripe is a mountain valley of Monagas, around 800 metres above sea level, part of the Turimiquire massif that it shares with Cumanacoa in neighbouring Sucre. Coffee grows under forest shade between roughly 700 and 1,400 metres, closer to the Caribbean than the Andean origins, and is harvested earlier, from September.
The Caripe variety
In 1956 the agronomist Gustavo Buonaffina Parra identified a group of coffee plants in Caripe with unusual vigour and productivity. Studies later described the Caripe hybrid as a natural cross of the Typica and Bourbon lines. In 2023 Caripe became the first Venezuelan variety included in the World Coffee Research varieties catalogue.
Today it is grown by smallholders on plots of a few hectares, mostly between 800 and 1,300 metres.
In the cup
Eastern coffees are sweet and fragrant, with chocolate, brown sugar or cane honey, a light, silky body and gentle citrus acidity.
Varieties grown in Caripe
Container lots are field blends of several cultivars. In Caripe the main ones are: Caripe, Typica, Bourbon, Mundo Novo, Caturra. See our guide to Venezuelan coffee varieties.
Buying Caripe coffee
Lots from Caripe are available on request and shipped FOB Puerto Cabello or CIF to your port, with a quality certificate per lot and EUDR geolocation data for EU shipments. Farm names and plot coordinates are disclosed upon contract signing. Read our EUDR guide for importers or request an offer.
