Peru Cajamarca Organic
A clean, organic cup
Roasting in January: Peru Cajamarca Organic. This limited release is the monthly featured coffee for our Small Batch coffee subscription series. Available only for our subscribers, this coffee will come automatically as your coffee-of-the-month if you’re a Small Batch Subscriber, but any subscriber can add a bag to their next shipment, as long as supplies last. And, of course, shipping is free.
Perfectly in season and fantastic right now
A supremely drinkable coffee from the northernmost region of Peru has just arrived at our Roastery. With its rarified altitudes and abundance of neighboring 20,000-foot peaks—this lot roasts up to be a silky-smooth cup that dances with warming notes of baked apple, toasted sugar, and nutmeg.
From a region dedicated to sustainable production
Peru is a specialist in organics—particularly the northern region of Cajamarca. Its reputation for quality stems from years of farming dedicated to sustainable production. Composting coffee cherry pulp to produce their own organic fertilizer, selectively pruning rather than stumping, eschewing herbicides for hand-removal of weeds, and mulching for elevated soil management means that they’re substituting synthetic inputs with the sweat of their hard work. It’s what must be done to survive as organic coffee farmers. Peet’s supports small scale coffee farmers that produce outstanding coffees that are responsibly sourced per Enveritas standards. This means first verifying the conditions, and second driving positive impact in the communities where the coffees are grown.
Elegant, aromatic, and comforting
And the payoff is sweet, in the form of one the finest Peru coffees we’ve had the pleasure of tasting. More enticing than baked goods, the elegance of lingering chamomile aromatics will leave you reaching for cup after cup this winter.
Sourcing with Impact in Peru
Last year, we partnered with TechnoServe in Peru by supporting their initiative, the Coffee Alliance for Excellence (CAFÉ). The program helps coffee farming families, some in former coca-growing regions, develop more sustainable livelihoods by improving productivity and quality through agronomy training and education, as well as connections to premium coffee markets.
Central to the program is the instruction of coffee farmers by the Coffee Farm College (CFC). Guided by regional experts—and by the results of farmer needs assessments—CFC provides training in Good Agronomic Practice, Climate Smart Agriculture, and gender equity, as well as other life skills such as financial literacy and sustainable land use.
NOTES FROM THE PEET'S ROASTERY
"A pioneer in organics, Peru produces some interesting coffees. With this batch from the northern highlands of Cajamarca, we anticipated it would behave much like other high-grown coffees from the Americas: quick to roast, with bright acidity, floral notes, and fruity on the palate. And we were mostly right, though of course every coffee expresses its own particular nuances.
Straight out of the bag, the beans gave off a fresh, grassy aroma, like bales of hay drying in the sun. The color was a mix of olive and a darker emerald green—a very pretty color—and the beans were medium sized with some coppery skin present. Once in the roaster, first crack started with one or two pops and then rapidly built to a soft-but-lively consensus. It was a great cue to cut back on heat for a regular dark roast. The aroma was very sweet and kind of nutty, almost almond-like, but mostly it was the sweetness that stood out. The 12kg room smelled so nice after a couple of batches.
Once our test batches landed in the Cupping Room, we were able to cup through the Peru profiles with 7 cuppers, blind and randomized. Unanimously, the slightly shorter roast time and lighter profile was preferred. It cupped similarly to our offering from last year, and we found this year’s lot to be even more complex and floral. This roast profile highlighted what we look for in a great Peru: bright, full bodied, complex. Additionally, this profile yielded a lovely silky texture and a nice, lingering finish. Tasters found it to be floral, with notes of chamomile, baking spice, soft fruit, and a hint of dark chocolate; great acidity and it cooled nicely.
We tasted this one augmented with milk and it tastes so good ("super comforting"). All in all, we think this is a terrific winter offering.”
-John Nicolini and Michael Madden, Roasters
LIMITED RELEASE PEET’S COFFEES
You might think that a monthly coffee subscription sounds amazing in and of itself, but Peet’s Small Batch coffee-of-the-month takes it a step further. These are microlot coffees, which is why you can only find them at peets.com and you can only access them if you have a subscription. They’re special—their rarity means they can sell out—fast. Subscribing ensures you get to taste each one of these remarkable lots. And if you’re a tried-and-true fan and subscribe to of one of our other coffees or subscription series, not to worry: you can do an add-on of this limited release to your next shipment. At least, while it lasts.
