Peru Cajamarca

The big two South American coffee producers are Brazil and Colombia. Most of it quite bad -- the cheapest coffees on the market, and most abundant. Both are known for high acidity, and quite often a dirty aftertaste. Most of it ends up in French roast, espressos, house blends, and commercial blends. But the Peru crop is a different South American coffee altogether. Peru coffees tend to be cleaner and smoother. And if you get the really good ones, they are very clean, and very low acid. Furthermore, organic Colombians and Brazils are hard to find, but organic Perus are fairly abundant. So abundant that there’s not much of a premium for organic certification versus the non-organic crops. Hence, Peru has become my recommendation to customers who want a South American coffee, and an economical option for those who want affordable organic certified coffee.

Cajamarca is the growing region in the northwest of Peru, right up against Ecuador. It is a straightforward bean, not too complex, but very versatile and easy to roast, and a crowd pleasing taste. There's nothing offensive or distracting about it (not too bright, not too complex, not earthy). At a light roast (full city, 407 degrees) it's smooth and sweet and clean like I expected, but it also has this definite milk chocolate flavor and caramel with slight hints of cherry in it. So mellow, so drinkable. Could sip on a coffee like this all day.

Just at 2nd cracks you get a darker chocolate with some walnut. Nothing memorable, but no one will complain about it.

Here at the shop we sell this as our French roast. We take it at least a minute into 2nd cracks, get it all smoky and oily you will get some of that ashy bitter taste, but the cocoa still comes out, and you can add a little cream to bring out the caramel.

US Arrival March 2024