Peru Perfiles Cooperative
Medium Roast
PERU
Coffee volume from Peru is down this year, but quality most certainly is not! This is an absolute gem from the Perfiles Cooperative, made up of 219 small holder members in Cajamarca in the north of Peru. It’s the perfect coffee for those of you who don’t want the bitterness of darker roasts but also don’t want a particularly fruit-forward flavor profile. We taste rich milk chocolate, almond frangipane, and a pastry-like sweetness. Honestly, what more could you ask for from a medium roast?
PRODUCER:
Perfiles Coopertive (219 small holder members)
ORIGIN:
Chontalí, Pomahuaca, Sallique, and Jaen districts of Cajamarca
VARIETIES:
Caturra, Typica, Pache, Bourbon
ELEVATION:
1,600 - 1,900 masl
PROCESS:
Fully Washed
HARVEST:
Spring-Summer 2024
TASTING:
Milk chocolate & almond croissant, dependable
Why We Love This Coffee
If you’re not a fan of the bitterness of darker roasts, but also don’t want a particularly fruit-forward flavor profile, Perfiles may be just what you’re looking for! It’s creamy and smooth, dominated by classic notes of chocolate and almonds, but its sweetness is particularly noteworthy - it really stood out on the cupping table. The Perfiles Cooperative has only been around since 2019 (currently with 219 members in the districts of Chontalí, Pomahuaca, Sallique, and Jaen) but they have made extensive investments in on-farm wet milling, solar drying units, and the planting of higher quality varieties. This investment is clearly paying dividends!
The Peruvian 2024/25 crop in the north harvested early and quickly (it started a few weeks early, but ended nearly two months early at some high-altitude farms) due to hot and dry weather, with substantially lower volumes than initially predicted. However, as a result of high prices producers remain very motivated despite the production challenges. New plantations will come into production for 2025/26 resulting in a substantial improvement in volumes.
When our importer visited the area in August 2024, they were told that the reduction in volume was due to several factors:
a) Coffee cherry borer (broca). The damage from this insect was particularly bad in the lower altitude plantations where the climate had been hot / dry and very conducive to the insect lifecycle.
b) Poor fruit set in the lower altitude areas due to lack of rains after early flowering
c) A high incidence of the fungal disease “anthracnose”, especially in poorly managed plantations. This fungal disease causes leaf drop prior to the harvest resulting in the cherry not maturing.
d) Lower yields than expected on renovated plantations from 2022 and 2023.
