Peru: La Esmerelda (Organic)

A super smooth a creamy caramel fills this cup. A gentle plum fruitiness as it cools and a hint of nutmeg on the finish rounds out the easy drinking coffee. 
 
This lot is a new partnership for Ozone and the very first time we’re roasting coffee from La Esmerelda. We selected Kelvin's Washed Catuai and Marshell from the countless samples that cross our cupping table because it simply stood out as a great tasting coffee. It showcases a notably different flavour profile to La Mandarina (another Peruvian lot we’ll be releasing soon) despite coming from farms which are geographically quite close together, really showcasing the variety of flavour profiles Peruvian coffee can offer. 

The Perfect Recipe 

The La Coipa district is nestled in the north east corner of the Cajamarca region of Peru. La Coipa is a fantastic coffee-producing area - the locale of Nima Juarez (El Roble and La Quebrada) whose coffee we have enjoyed in previous years, and Irene Herrera (La Mandarina) whose coffee we will be releasing later this season. The area is home to the El Horcon Comite (a small producer group) of which Kelvin Guerrero is part. Kelvin is 29 years old, young by wider coffee producer standards but typical in Peru where younger farmers are quite common. His farm sits at 1,850 metres above sea level. He has processed this lot in a very classic way for the region, fully Washed using a tiled tank and then sun dried. 

He is currently growing coffee on 2 hectares of land, planted with a mixture of predominantly Catuai (a traditional option) and a small amount of Marshell (a more recent addition). Marshell is a Catimor variety named after another farm’s owner, Marcelino Chinguel, supposedly because he was the first to find this mutation in Peru and grow it. Genetic testing points to Marshell being a cross between Caturra and Timor Hybrid 832/1, also known as Costa Rica 95, developed by the Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (ICAFE). Many Peruvian coffee farmers were encouraged to grow Catimor varietals in the mid 2010’s by coops, exporters, and government programs to help combat leaf rust and other diseases. Catimors often divide opinion among the coffee community as their partial Robusta genetics can lead to undesirable cup qualities when not handled well - this is, however, a great example of how it can shine with the right treatment. For more information on fascinating Catimors check out our varietal guide here: https://ozonecoffee.co.uk/blogs/varietals/coffee-varietal-catimor  

Coffee In Peru 

Coffee was first introduced to Peru via its northern neighbour Ecuador in the mid-18th century. Britain was one of the first states to formally recognize Peruvian independence in 1823. Loans made by the British Government to finance the war of independence had already been defaulted on by 1825, leading over 2,000,000 hectares of land to be transferred to British ownership in part payment of the debt via The Peruvian Corporation. Roughly a quarter of this was then put to agricultural use, which jumpstarted Peruvian coffee’s international trade in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  
 
Coffee production in Peru began with large landholdings primarily in the ownership of wealthy European elites, however, as workers migrated from other areas of Peru to provide labour on the farms, many began to branch out to farm independently on the abundant available land across Cajamarca, Junín, Cusco, and San Martin. Eventually the balance shifted as larger landholders departed, leaving the small-scale “peasant” producers as the majority. Land reforms and government programs in the 1950’s and 60’s further encouraged coffee cultivation, with small-scale, indigenous farmers now being responsible for most of the country’s production.  
 
Today, around 425,000 hectares of the country are dedicated to coffee farming, mostly centred in Cajamarca where half of all Peruvian coffee is grown. Small scale farms are most common, with the average coming in at just under 3 hectares. This industry structure means many Peruvian coffee producers must navigate the problems typically associated with smallholder farming, such as difficulty accessing credit, mill processing, and inefficiencies in managing production. Cooperatives such as El Horcon Comite help to mitigate risks and pool resources that are crucial to running profitable businesses. Much of Peru’s coffee is collected from small farms then combined to be milled and marketed through cooperatives, some made of up to 2,000 farmers, but improvements in traceability in recent years means we are able to access more single-producer lots like this one and highlight the regional terroirs of a country with an official 28 microclimates and celebrate exceptional small coffee producers.

The World Leader In Organic Coffee 

Despite being the 9th largest producing country globally, exporting approximately 3,772,000 bags of coffee annually, Peru is presently the world’s largest exporter for Organic coffee. Roughly 90,000 hectares of coffee-growing farmland in Peru is certified Organic, as is La Esmerelda. The main driver of this trend is that the vast majority of production in the country is carried out by smallholder producers who lack the resources to invest in chemical products for use on their farms. This does however present a huge risk from the ever-increasing threat of coffee leaf rust, exacerbated by climate change, which has had a major impact in Peru where pesticide and fungicide use is rare.  

• Country: Peru 
• Region: Cajamarca 
• Province: San Ignacio 
• District: La Coipa 
• Producer: Kelvin Guerrero 
• Elevation: 1,850 m.a.s.l 
• Variety: Catuai, Marshell 
• Processing method: Washed 

Cupping Notes: Caramel, plum, nutmeg.

Cup of Excellence Cupping Scores 

• Clean Cup: 6/8 
• Sweetness: 6.5/8 
• Acidity: 6/8 
• Mouthfeel: 6/8 
• Flavour: 6.5/8 
• Aftertaste: 6/8 
• Balance: 6.5/8 
• Overall: 6.5/8 
• Correction: +36 
• Total: 86/100 

If you'd like to find out more about how we score coffees, make sure to read our blog post “What Do Coffee Cupping Scores Actually Mean?” and if you'd like to try cupping yourself, we've got a guide to that too! What is Coffee Cupping.

Medium to medium dark
A nice steady pace through first and up to the edge of second will develop the sweetness well without pushing it into the darker chocolate flavours.