Peru Cajamarca Org. El Chaupe SHB EP

Description

Peru’s northern Andes are lush, humid, mountainous, and a kind of visceral threshold between the drier Pacific slopes and the cavernous and rain forested lowlands of the Amazon basin on the eastern side. The highlands here are broad and varied in elevation and microclimate. Coffee has had a dominant presence here for decades and the northern departments of Cajamarca, Amazonas, and Piura are well-established in the marketplace for their certified cooperatives representing tens of thousands of smallholder farmers, as well as the high quality potential throughout the region.

Perales Huancaruna (PERHUSA) is a cooperative in northern Peru that manages coffee from farmer associates throughout the region. This specific lot comes to us from a combination of small family-run farms in the Chaupe municipality, near the city of San Ignacio, close to the Ecuadorian border. During harvest the farms have minimal, if any, hired labor to assist with picking and land management, all of which is carefully and entirely done by hand. Once picked, coffee is mechanically depulped using a small machine, fermented in an above-ground tank for 24-36 hours, manually scrubbed clean using fresh water, and then dried for about 10 days on small patios, and occasionally raised screen beds. Finally, fully dried parchment is delivered to one of PERHUSA’s local warehouses for safekeeping and conditioning.

Tasting Notes: A lovely & fresh coffee great from a medium to dark roast. A good daily drinker. Medium to low acidity, the cup does have some jazzy more floral tones at the lighter roast points, some chocolaty factor to balance but leans on the more nutty side of things, pleasant to drink and on the crisper side but not overly acidic. Medium roasts and beyond produce a smooth and rich cup, more chocolaty than nutty, pulls a peanut brittle like tone (some may say hint of caramel), not quite candy like, more peanut than brittle but we all thought it to be a good descriptor. Dark roasts turns the cup pretty chocolaty, retains the sweet edge and a couple even noticed a little floral hint to it.

Roasting Notes: Medium to dark roasts are the way to go. A nice medium roast makes for an excellent daily drinker, smooth, sweet and balanced. Darker roasts work well if you need a little heft in the cup.