Peru Coffee - El Cerro Coffee Farm [Caturra] Coffee Bean Flavor and Characteristics? Peru E

Peru El Cerro Coffee Farm: Flavor Profile and Characteristics of Caturra Coffee Beans

The village of El Corazón is located in Jaén province, a four-hour drive north of the bustling city of the same name, which serves as both the official provincial capital and the unofficial capital of Peru's coffee industry. Reaching Finca El Cerro requires another hour-long walk from the village. The farm's landscape is rugged, with elevations reaching as high as 2,000 meters, featuring abundant natural shade and untouched forest. At least, that's what we've learned from the leadership team at Café Solidario, who have been telling us about Efraín and his farm for years. We attempted to visit for the first time this year but were defeated by the roads, which were not only too muddy to navigate but also overwhelmed our vehicle: our attempt to reach the farm through the mud essentially killed our truck, and we had to hitchhike back to our hotel.

Like most coffee farms in Peru, El Cerro is small: spanning 2 hectares (less than 5 and a half acres) planted with about 10,000 Caturra trees. Unlike most coffee farmers in Peru, Efraín focuses on quality and is part of an organization dedicated to relentless separation.

Efraín has been working this farm for seven years, improving steadily each year. He maintains a small, primitive depulper and fermentation tanks, as well as a small solar dryer that lets him avoid the risks of El Corazón's finicky humid weather. Efraín was known for his meticulous attitude toward his coffee even before this year's Cup of Excellence. Now he is a celebrity of sorts in El Corazón, where his neighbors seek his fermentation advice, he helps build new drying infrastructure, and much of his yellow Caturra seed is shared willingly.

This spectacular place, which reminds us of persimmons and dried cherries, is a pioneer of the new era of Peruvian coffee.

Most of Peru's truly delicious coffee gets blended together. Coffee there is primarily collected from thousands of producers and heavily homogenized, significantly diluting dozens or hundreds of small-batch premium products. In the United States and other countries where Peruvian coffee is consumed, you might find it hidden in colorful blends on grocery store shelves, but you'll have to look hard. Peru is one of the world's top ten coffee-producing countries, but when it comes to quality, it's still working to make a name for itself.

Peru's coffee industry faces many challenges typical of coffee-growing countries, including persistent poverty, limited economic development in rural areas, and weak infrastructure, along with challenges specific to the industry: its immense size means coffee farms in many regions are particularly isolated from ports and markets. Development assistance, as well as organic and fair trade certifications, have made an impact in Peru: coffee growers are improving their lives, and the cooperatives that connect them to markets are able to reinvest in technology and agricultural assistance.

Peru's quality isn't high, but not because it lacks the conditions to produce extraordinary coffee. Peru's soaring Andean peaks, lush coffee forests, cool temperatures, and traditional varieties make it a natural source of premium coffee. What it lacks is a culture of quality, a commitment to batch separation, and the high prices that make all separation worthwhile.

In recent years we've been working to create incentives for growers to start separating their lots by quality, and the results have been truly exciting. Last year we released the first version of our new Rayos del Sol Organic Peru offering, our first direct-trade single-origin from Peru in many years. Earlier this year, the Cup of Excellence highlighted the idea that value can be achieved through batch separation when it held its first competition and auction in Peru.

In our blind cupping of all the Peruvian CoE award-winning lots, this particular one stood out on the table, being notably sweet and clean. We were excited but not surprised to discover it came from Efraín Carhuallocllo, a member of the Café Solidario cooperative that puts together our Rayos del Sol Organic Peru lot.

Peru's first Cup of Excellence, in 2017, produced its best top 10 list ever. Meaning "hill," El Cerro comes from Peru's lush northern highlands, where producer Efraín Carhuallocllo Salvador showcases the true potential of specialty coffee in the region using organic farming techniques. We were fortunate to share the auction with roasters from the United States, South Korea, and Japan, bringing these 90+ scores down under and beginning our 2018 COE journey.

Their coffee scored over 90 points (a very high and rare score), and farmers are paid an additional premium. The idea behind the program is to help farmers switch from focusing on the quantity of coffee they produce to the quality of the coffee they produce. The end result is a win-win: farmers earn more money, and consumers get better coffee.

The coffee is grown by Efraín Carhuallocllo Salvador, who is part of a co-op from which we get our Organic Peru Norte (which makes this coffee even more unique, as it's 90+ and organic). This farm has been producing quality coffee for the past few years, even placing second in the 2017 Cup of Excellence.

Flavor Profile

Flavor: Sweet and balanced, with notes of caramel, graham cracker, marshmallow, apple, and almond.

Aroma: Orange blossom, white nectarine, and cherry jam. Dense, lingering finish.

Variety: Caturra

Process: Washed

Tasting Notes: Red fruit, preserves, plum, mandarin, floral, coffee blossom, red date, berry jam, complex, Swiss chocolate, vanilla, yellow apple, crystal, berry jam.

Acidity: Citric acid, malic acid, bright, crisp, juicy, syrupy, sparkling, smooth, peach.

Other: Orange marmalade, rich, honey-sweet, smooth mouthfeel, harmonious, integrated, spiced, personality.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90°C

Grind Size: Fuji Rukus grinder setting 3.5

Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, using 15g of coffee. First pour 25g of water for a 25-second bloom. Second pour to 120g, then pause and wait until the water level drops to halfway before continuing. Slowly pour until reaching 225g total. Extraction time approximately 2:00.

Analysis: A three-stage brewing method clearly expresses the coffee's front, middle, and back-end flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If El Cerro's sweet, balanced washed Caturra is your kind of cup, FrontStreet Coffee's entry-level single origins offer a similar profile at a friendly price. Brazil Cerrado is a classic: grown in the well-known Cerrado region, it is a red Bourbon, medium roasted, and pours out creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut aromas with a rounded body, no sharp acidity, and a light bitterness. As a single origin it's smooth and approachable, and it also works in a moka pot, as espresso SOE, in a siphon, or in a French press.

For a more floral and fruit-accented cup, try FrontStreet Coffee's Colombia Huila. Huila is Colombia's most famous specialty region, ringed by mountains with growing altitudes above 1,500 meters and the country's most important rivers converging there, bringing abundant moisture and water. Colombian coffee tends to be floral with gentle fruit acidity, and this one drinks clean, sweet, and well balanced - a great everyday bean for anyone easing into specialty coffee.