Coffee Review: Peru — Catahoula Coffee Company
brew: Peru
From Catahoula Coffee Company. Richmond, CA
Catahoula describes their Peru variety as follows:
Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera La Florida, one of the first coffee cooperatives of its kind, was established in 1966, and is a model for cooperatives across Peru. The coffee has an international reputation for quality and environmental responsibility, and is certified organic and fair trade. Notes of cashew and chocolate.
This region of Chanchamayo, Peru is on the eastern slope of the Andes. In 1966, 50 small-scale coffee farmers came together to form this cooperative. They’ve done great things and benefitted the local people as well as sustained the soil and protected the environment. Quite an impressive group!
Grinding up the beans as I do, I was delighted by the aromatics. Nutty, somewhere between cashew and almond. The complex notes lingered on the tongue. Chocolate, nutty but lighter than my usual darker roasts.
I was sleep-walking and distracted a week later, and after grinding the beans, I severely overfilled the water, not noticing. What a disappointment to waste a batch of these beans! Forcing myself to drink the watered-down beans, I recalled the bad diner coffee of my 20s.
I’ve had a handful of students from Peru over the years. I’ve enjoyed teaching each of them. The country’s landscape has long intrigued me. The Andes. The rainforest. The coast. I’d love to visit Machu Picchu one day. That’s located further south from the cooperative, down near Cusco. Until then…a cup of Catahoula’s Peruvian roast will have to do.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Support local coffee companies, local bookstores and local independent cinemas. As Sean Baker noted at last night’s Academy Awards, “We’re losing theaters everyday.”
