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 Cautivo municipality, near the city of San Igancio, 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. From there deliveries are sampled and consolidated by PERHUSA’s quality team or kept separate for traceability or quality reasons.
Tasting Notes: A nice super fresh classic tasting Peru coffee! Great from a medium to dark roast. Very chocolaty cup, medium bodied with a sweeter edge to it, hints of spice in the aftertaste. Light to medium roasts will show some lemony citric/floral tones upfront and hints of nutty/herbal tones. Medium to dark roasts mute all or most of the lemony citric and herbal notes, accentuating the rich chocolaty cup profile. Dark roasts add more of a smoky baker’s chocolate profile but equally as tasty as a nice medium roast.
Roasting Notes: Medium to low chaff, easy to roast. We would suggest erring a little darker than lighter but as long as you get some development past first crack, a tasty treat. For everyday drinking, get a little sheen on the surface but no wet oil; after a couple days’ setup it has smooth and rich chocolaty notes with hints of a nutty factor, real gentle acidity.
tim.wisc (verified owner) –
Roasted this to first touch of 2nd crack. Absolutely great cup of coffee! Full, smooth, clean chocolatey flavor; great aroma. Definitely a keeper!
k.koles (verified owner) –
I roasted it light (will try medium next) and it was FANTASTIC, we truly did not expect such a wonderful taste with milk chocolatey undertones! Too bad it is now sold out!
Leadpaint (verified owner) –
Coffee this good! at this price! Nuff said