Taste:

A vibrant and fruit-forward cup with bold red fruit character. The wet aroma hints at caramel and delicate peach, giving way to a juicy, candy-like experience when hot. The first sips deliver a burst of red fruit snacks and raspberry, with a chewy, gummy-like texture reminiscent of fruit chews and Red Starbursts. As the cup cools, the acidity sharpens into a bright citrus medley with a good amount of lime zest. The more the coffee ages the more lime come outs. We are finding that drinking this 2 weeks from roast its more of the red fruits and after 4 weeks its less red fruits and more yellow stone fruit / lime zest. 

Sourcing from Esmérita Vásquez Ramirez

Peruvian coffees continue to reveal new depths each year, offering some of the most dramatic landscapes and diverse coffee-growing microclimates. With each shift from one mountain to the next, the cup profiles transform—ranging from sweet and chocolatey to bright notes of grapefruit and raspberry tart.

During our suppliers visit to Peru last summer, a meeting was arranged with Esmérita Vásquez on one of several farm visits. Reaching her farm required a two-hour drive from the nearest city, Jaén, followed by a steep ascent on foot to her plot, which she calls La Esperanza—Hope. She greeted visitors with a warm smile and a strong presence, a machete swinging at her side as she led the way.

La Esperanza sits at the top of the mountain, surrounded by lush greenery and offering a breathtaking 360º view of the landscape. Her approach to farming is rustic, yet her selection of coffee varieties speaks for itself. Alongside her husband, Esmérita carries out the entire harvest process, making for long days and physically demanding work. The limitations of a two-person operation shape the unique character of her coffee. Unlike many farms where cherries are pulped the same day they are harvested, Esmérita's coffee undergoes a slightly extended fermentation process. The harvested cherries are left tied up in grain-pro bags on the farm for a few days before pulping, initiating a fermentation stage reminiscent of the increasingly popular "anaerobic" processing method.

The resulting cup is both bold and nuanced—a product of ideal climate conditions and meticulous land management.

Esmérita’s Process

• Coffee undergoes a total fermentation time of 48 hours in grain-pro bags.
• First, cherries ferment in whole fruit for 12 hours.
• After de-pulping, the coffee ferments again for 36 more hours in bags.
• The washed beans are transported to her home in La Coipa, where they dry on raised beds for 20-25 days, depending on the climate.

This careful and time-intensive process yields a coffee that is as distinctive as the land it comes from.