Peruvian Coffee Growing Regions | What Are the Characteristics of Peruvian Coffee? How Should Peruvian Coffee Be Brewed?

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The History of Peruvian Coffee

Peru began cultivating coffee in this region quite early - around the mid-1700s. We're not quite sure how it made its way to most of Central America faster than other regions, even though Central America is actually closer to the Caribbean where the plants originated. This remains something of a mystery.

However, for most of Peru's coffee history, the majority of coffee beans were consumed locally. While production steadily grew throughout the 1700s and 1800s, very few beans were exported - with very few making their way to the United States.

The late 1800s brought devastating diseases to Indonesia and surrounding countries, destroying Asia's coffee industry. As a result, European buyers began looking to other producers around the world to satisfy Europe's insatiable demand for coffee, and they soon found Peru.

Peruvian Coffee Characteristics

Peruvian coffee is predominantly produced by small farmers, with each small farmer owning less than two hectares of land, producing approximately 3,000 pounds of coffee per hectare. Organic cultivation has a very long and quite common history in Peru, primarily because local farmers lack the opportunity or capital to invest in chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. However, in recent years, due to climate change, coffee leaf rust has spread successively across various countries. Because of organic cultivation methods, this has also caused significant production reductions in Peruvian coffee. Peruvian coffee is shade-grown in high-altitude areas, primarily featuring Arabica varieties. With slow maturation and growth, the beans here have higher density and quite diverse flavor profiles. Among the highest altitude areas, Peru's main coffee-producing region is Chanchamayo, located in the central highlands on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains. This is followed by Amazonas and San Martín, situated in the northern highlands on the eastern side of the Andes.

Certification and Cooperative Systems

Peru's relatively poor infrastructure has attracted various development groups and funded organizations from around the world. Consequently, Peruvian coffee has become one of the world's top producers of organic certified, Rainforest Alliance certified, and UTZ certified coffee.

Nearly 30% of the country's small farmers now belong to local cooperatives. These partnerships help farmers, particularly rural farmers, market their beans to wider audiences and consequently receive better compensation.

Growing Regions

While the high altitudes of the Andes Mountains, running through central Peru, provide optimal growing conditions for Arabica coffee, there are also farms throughout the country's coastal plains - and even in the jungle regions of Peru's lower Amazon basin. There are truly very few places in this country where coffee isn't grown.

Peruvian Coffee Flavor Profiles

Low-altitude farms in Peru, such as those found around the town of Nambale near the Peru-Ecuador border, tend to produce coffee with mild acidity, medium body, and smooth flavors of nuts, flowers, and subtle fruits.

Once you move into the Andes Mountains, like the farms around Cusco and Machu Picchu, the coffee begins to exhibit bright acidity, vibrant floral notes, and rich sweetness.

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee suggests the following Peruvian coffee brewing parameters:

V60/1:15/90℃/Time: 1 minute 50 seconds

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