For the first time in our offer appeared natural coffee from Peru. It is not a very common processing in the locality, so we are glad that we finally got it.
The Farm:
Edilberto Torres Sanchez is a second generation coffee farmer from San Antonio, Huabal. Edilberto grows catuai and castillo varieties on his farm at an altitude of 1600 meters and has been processing coffee naturally for 3-4 years.
Huabal is a district in the Jaén province of Cajamarca and is one of our strongest areas in terms of members and quality. Huabal has huge potential for quality coffee, but due to very poor infrastructure, many producers do not have the resources and knowledge to tap into this potential. The altitude in the area ranges from 1,200 to 2,100 meters above sea level, but most of the producers we work with are above 1,800 meters above sea level. Many of the producers in Huabal have restored their farms using catimors, which have been supported by the government and multinational buyers, and in some altitude ranges they have produced excellent results and, with good management, produce decent quality cups, but at higher altitudes they rarely produce much and the quality is poor. Now, thanks to the premiums they receive for quality, more and more producers are replanting caturra, bourbon and catuai, which, with good management and fertilisation, can have higher yields and produce much higher quality coffee. Huabal is made up of different villages that are centres of coffee production, and each producer belongs to one village. As Huabal is spread over several mountains, the climatic conditions and soil can vary greatly – in some areas the conditions are wet and humid and the red soil is similar to African soil, while in others it is dry and hot. All of this contributes to varied and delicious cup profiles and some very complex coffees.
Variety:
Catimor is a hybrid coffee created in a laboratory in the late 1960s. It combines two varieties of coffee beans: a Robusta hybrid (Timor) and an Arabica mutation (Caturra). F1 coffees are created from two parent plants to produce the first generation of human-influenced coffee to combat leaf rust and other diseases of the coffee plant. In addition, it is also known for its high yield in a short period of time. In addition, there are several subspecies within the Catimor variety. In Central America, for example, Catimor is known as T8667, which has a short stem and an average bean size. There is also the T5269 variety, which is best suited to areas with lower altitudes and higher rainfall. Finally, T5175 is a high-yielding plant that needs a medium altitude. Although Catimor itself is not as highly prized for its flavour it is extremely important for subsequent breeding with other varieties.
Catuai is a cross between the highly productive Mundo Novo and the compact Caturra variety, developed at the Instituto Agronomico (IAC) in Brazil. The plant is highly productive, partly due to its small size, which allows the plants to be close together; it can be planted at almost double the density. The shape of the plant makes it relatively easy to treat for pests and diseases. It is particularly characterised by its great vigour and low height. It is very susceptible to coffee leaf rust. Today it is considered a variety with good, but not great, cup quality.
Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon. It was discovered on a plantation in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil sometime between 1915 and 1918. Caturra has a mutation in one gene that causes the plant to grow smaller (called dwarf/compact). After the discovery of Caturra, selection was carried out at the Instituto Agronomico (IAC) in Brazil from 1937. The breeders were interested in the small size of the variety, which allows the plants to be placed closer together, and in its closely spaced secondary branches, which allow more fruit to be produced in the same space. For decades it was one of the most economically important coffees in Central America, so much so that it was often used (and sometimes still is) as a ‘benchmark’ against which new varieties are tested. The only disadvantage of this variety is that it is susceptible to disease, especially coffee leaf rust. It is similar to Bourbon in sweetness, balanced and slightly citrusy.
Processing:
After floating, the ripe cherries are dried on peat beds for 25 to 30 days.
Our baristas notes:
Espresso:
We have found the best espresso in a ratio 1 : 2.12 at times between 27 and 30 seconds. The body is dominated by sweet notes of peaches and candied fruit which turn into a pleasant taste of dark chocolate on the aftertaste. With longer extractions, the dark chocolate comes out more strongly. On the other hand shorter extractions make the coffee more acidic and losethe body. It is a very pleasant, smooth and complex coffee. We didn´t change the recipe to the milk. The coffee is beautifully creamy in the milk with a dominant taste of chocolate.
Filter:
The coffee behave typically on the filter and flows even slightly slower than classic washed coffee. We ground it with a 20g recipe and 4 pours for 24 clicks and the final time with 280ml of water was 2 minutes and 45 seconds. The coffee is very sweet, with sweet red notes, light black tea and chocolate dominating the overall coffee. The fruitiness increases as it cools down. There are notes of strawberry, blueberry, vanilla and red tea. In one sentence. Very pleasant, complex, sweet coffee.
