The Difference Between Peruvian Coffee and Maca Coffee - Peruvian Maca Price and Coffee Costs

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The Rising Star of Coffee

As a rising star in the coffee world, Peruvian coffee is gradually gaining recognition and expanding internationally. Peruvian coffee beans have long been used as one of the blending beans to stabilize the richness of coffee blends. Peruvian coffee has a mellow flavor with appropriate acidity. This moderate coffee character has made more and more people fond of it.

Peruvian Coffee Growing Regions

Peru is located in western South America with a coastline of 2,254 kilometers. The Andes Mountains run north to south, with mountains covering one-third of the country's area. It belongs to the tropical desert zone with a dry and mild climate. Most Peruvian coffee is grown at the foot of the Andes Mountains, where traditional high-quality Central American coffee beans are produced. Peru has rich natural landscapes including tropical rainforests, unique hilly terrain, and the driest deserts. Coffee is grown along the eastern side of the Andes at altitudes of 1,300-1,850 meters. Excellent Peruvian coffee grows in high-altitude areas of the Andes, reaching up to 2,000 meters.

Up to 98% of Peruvian coffee beans are grown in forest areas, and most producers are small farmers.

Premium Peruvian Coffee

The highest quality Peruvian coffee comes from Chanchamayo, Cuzco, Norte, and Puno. The coffee beans from Chanchamayo in the central region and Cuzco in the southern region are the most famous. Most Peruvian coffee is grown under natural conditions, producing specialty organic coffee. Organic coffee uses beans grown under tree shade. Naturally grown coffee commands prices 10%-20% higher than others. Judging from the poverty situation, farmers likely cannot afford fertilizers and pesticides, but it is very difficult to verify that all coffee is truly organic. Although the shade-growing method results in lower coffee bean yields, the quality can reach the level of premium coffee. This is because the shade from trees can slow down the maturation of coffee trees, help coffee grow fully, contain more natural ingredients, develop superior flavors, and reduce caffeine content.

Peruvian Coffee Market

Peru has favorable economic conditions and stable political situation, ensuring excellent coffee quality. In the mid-1970s, Peru's annual coffee production was about 900,000 bags, later growing steadily to about 1.3 million bags annually. Although private exporters purchase coffee from remote areas through intermediaries, the main market is still monopolized by the government. Later, the Private Peruvian Coffee Exporters Association was established, dedicated to improving coffee quality. Their primary task was to establish standards and eliminate inferior products, creating a quality-first atmosphere. This positive initiative indicates a bright future for the coffee industry. Afterwards, rising prices also encouraged farmers to actively grow coffee instead of the region's traditional economic crop—cocoa.

In general, these coffee beans have the brightness of Central American coffee but are packaged entirely with South American flavors. High-quality organic farms indeed have more rustic coffee characteristics. As long as these coffee beans continue to add interesting flavors rather than diminish them, a cup of Peruvian coffee will have both brightness and depth. When you hold an ordinary cup of Peruvian coffee, you don't need to try hard to taste whether it's high quality.

Peru uses planned cultivation for coffee growing, greatly improving coffee yields. Its rich acidity and mellow smoothness are its most distinctive characteristics. Peruvian coffee has mild acidity, medium body, with excellent taste and aroma, making it an indispensable component in coffee blends. Outstanding Peruvian coffee has rich aroma, smooth and layered texture, rich sweetness, and elegant, mild acidity that will gently awaken your taste buds.

The difference between ordinary organic Peruvian coffee and high-quality organic Peruvian coffee is enormous: relatively cheaper beans are not only unremarkable in quality but usually have obvious defects in cupping, especially grassy and over-fermented flavors. Finding good Peruvian coffee beans requires a lot of effort searching among numerous intermediaries or other purchasing channels. However, it also takes hard work to select sample beans. But that's still better than burying yourself in piles of documents.

Peruvian Maca Coffee

Peruvian Maca Coffee (macacoffee) is a coffee beverage made primarily from the unique macamide extract精华 of Peruvian pure natural herbal Maca, along with okra, premium Brazilian coffee beans, and high-quality creamer.

In 2001, American researchers analyzed Maca and identified its active ingredients, naming them macaenes and macamides. Macaenes and macamides have functions of regulating human hormone secretion, improving immunity, and have good effects on kidney health, making Maca suitable for both men and women.

Maca · Growing Environment

Peruvian Maca is a plant that grows on plateaus at altitudes above 4,000 meters in the Andes Mountains of South America. The climate there is unpredictable with extreme temperature differences between day and night. Not only are there no fertilizers, but even basic oxygen is extremely lacking. To survive in such harsh conditions, it must be able to store enormous energy. Therefore, Maca has very high requirements for land nutrient absorption. On the unpolluted highlands where others stop, it absorbs the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, concentrating the essence of the earth. Maca can be called a miracle of nature. For thousands of years, the Inca people have regarded Maca as a gift from the Andes gods.

Maca yield is extremely low, with crop rotation every 7 years. The World Health Organization has listed it as a globally rare plant.

Maca · Coming to China

It has very strict growing environment requirements, and currently only Peru and Lijiang can grow it. Lijiang, with its unique high-altitude mountain terrain and climate resources, along with the Ministry of Health officially including Maca in the new resource food category in 2011, has achieved introduction and large-scale standardized cultivation of Maca products in Lijiang, Yunnan. High-quality Yunnan Lijiang Maca has begun to be exported abroad.

Maca is rich in high-unit nutrients and has tonic and strengthening effects on the human body. People who consume it will feel energetic, vigorous, and free from fatigue. It is highly sought after by health enthusiasts, and many consumers compete to buy it, creating a situation where "one card is hard to find." Due to this situation, counterfeit products made through illegal means have appeared on the market, using inferior Maca to imitate Peruvian Maca.

Indeed, after adding Maca to coffee, Maca's rapid energy-replenishing effect can effectively restore the physical energy consumed during staying up late, without affecting normal daytime work. For those who stay up late playing games or watching sports, it's a very healthy beverage.

However, the main ingredients of Maca coffee are Maca extract, coffee powder, and non-dairy creamer, not Maca + Peruvian coffee. Understanding the difference between Peruvian coffee and Maca coffee will help you avoid being deceived!

The editor thinks it's better to drink real Peruvian coffee beans.

Recommended Single Origin: 【Peru FTO SOLY CAFE】

• Country: Peru
• Region: Cajamarca
• Altitude: 1800-2000 meters
• Processing: Washed
• Varieties: Typica, Caturra, Bourbon, Catuai
• Producer: Sol y Café Cooperative
• Flavor: Nuts, Caramel, Cream

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, also providing online shop services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

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