Residency at Gocta Lab

It was not until I arrived, got my bearings, and took a long, thought filled walk to the gorgeous Gocta waterfall, a four to five hour round trip spent traipsing past trapiches for the production of sugarcane based panela, guarapo, and cañazo, that the mission presented itself to me, to distill hyper local ingredients using a distiller built from local pottery.

Understanding how to process the yacon with the materials we had on hand, opening up a dialogue between us, the agricultural products, and their potential to become viable spirits, while establishing initial production methods for their transformation.

Yacon is an ancient tuber endemic to the Andes. Could it be a dream ingredient for distillation? Come along on my adventures with yacon.

THE pitahaya (dragon fruit in English) from Churuja, Bongará, Amazonas. Churuja is only about 20 minutes' driving from Gocta Lab , though you find the climbing cactus growing wild all over the area, like a weed. Endemic to this region, this pitahaya has recently become a crop in high demand in Lima and in export markets. The region is seeking to expand plantations to meet the rapidly growing demand. The pitahaya churuja has a yellow outer shell. The inside is a very sweet, fl

Rakacha is a Quechua word, while in Spanish the plant is known as arracacha, zanahoria blanca, or apio criollo. Peeling rakacha at Gocta Lab Rakacha is an ancestral Andean tuber; its domestication predates that of the potato and corn. It is likely the oldest cultivar in South America.  Its growing cycle is 10-12 months and must be harvested before flowering. It grows between 1,500 and 3,000 meters above sea level. The highest genetic diversity has been found around Cajamarca,