How is Peruvian Coffee? An Introduction to Peruvian Caturra Coffee Bean Flavors

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Peruvian Coffee

Peru (Spanish: Peru) is a country in western South America with an extremely long coastline and the Andes Mountains running north to south, with mountains covering one-third of the country's area. The west of Peru has a tropical desert climate, while the eastern and central regions have highland, mountain, or tropical rainforest climates, so several climate environments coexist within a single country. That rich climate diversity, combined with large day-night temperature swings, has created Peru's unique coffee-growing environment.

Peru was once home to one of the earliest human civilizations in the Americas - the Norte Chico prehistoric civilization - as well as the largest country in the Americas during the pre-Columbian period, the Inca Empire. Unfortunately, it later became a Spanish colony, followed by centuries of continuous warfare. Although Peru began growing coffee in the mid-18th century and was one of the first countries in the Americas to do so, most of it was consumed domestically, with minimal exports.

Opportunity did not appear until the late 19th century, when large-scale leaf rust swept through Indonesia and neighboring countries, pushing European buyers to look for new coffee origins - and Peru became their target. In the early 20th century, Europeans invested in coffee cultivation in Peru, making coffee the country's primary industry and accounting for 60% of Peru's commodity exports at the time.

Every story has its ups and downs, though. In 2014, major coffee-producing regions in South America suffered a leaf rust crisis, and Peru took heavy losses, with exports falling from 3.88 million bags in the previous season to 2.44 million bags, a decline of about 37%. In the 2017/2018 season, Peru's coffee exports had rebounded to 4.03 million bags. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's report on April 23, 2019, Peru's production is expected to reach 4.5 million bags in the 2019/2020 season, with exports reaching 4.3 million bags.

Peru has a distinctive natural environment: high altitude, a highland climate, suitable temperature, air, and light, and fertile soil. These lengthen the growing period of the coffee beans, giving Arabica coffee a fragrant, delicious taste.

About Coffee Varieties

In terms of total production, Peru is the world's eighth-largest producing country. The coffee grown in Peru is almost entirely Arabica, with over 70% being Typica, about 20% Caturra, and small amounts of Catimor and others. About 75% of coffee trees are planted at altitudes between 1000-1800 meters.

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research center that enjoys sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation just to help more friends fall in love with coffee, and there are three low-discount coffee events every month. The reason is that FrontStreet Coffee wants more people to drink the best coffee at the lowest price, a principle we have held for the past 6 years!

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Peru's coffee story is a story of persevering with Arabica and old varieties, and if you enjoy exploring a region through its classic varieties, FrontStreet's Indonesia wet-hulled Mandheling makes an intriguing contrast. When people think of Indonesian coffee, Mandheling is the first name that comes up, and it begins with Sumatra. Mandheling refers to Arabica coffee from Sumatra, mostly processed by the local wet-hulling method: because the parchment is removed while the bean is still half-dry and half-wet, the raw bean dries fully exposed to the air, which gives the coffee its typical herbal and spice notes. FrontStreet's Mandheling comes from the Lake Toba area of the Lintong region. To present the classic Mandheling profile, the coffee is roasted medium-dark, giving a low-acid, full-bodied cup with rich aromas of caramel, dark chocolate, and toasted bread and a long, sweet finish - ideal for anyone who likes a strong cup.

For the top tier of Indonesian coffee, FrontStreet's PWN Golden Mandheling is the choice. PWN is a trading company that focuses on purchasing the best local lots of Mandheling green beans, producing only specialty-grade Mandheling, and "Golden Mandheling" is its signature product. It applies strict standards and methods for screening defects - density, size, shape, and color among them - and the beans pass one mechanical selection and one hand selection to remove defects, ensuring a complete, uniform, large, and translucent bean while reducing the muddy and grassy notes common to Mandheling. The name is said to come from the golden gleam the beans give off in sunlight. Freshly roasted, FrontStreet's PWN Golden Mandheling shows sandalwood, herbs, spice, roasted hazelnut, caramel, and dark chocolate, with a clean finish, a rich and mellow body, and a deeply layered aroma.