Super Strudel - Peru

Roast Profile | Light

Notes of | Red Apple, Honey, Vanilla

Variety | Bourbon, Caturra

Process | Dry Ferment Washed

Altitude | 1950 - 2000 MASL

Sergio Chinguel Alberca is a second generation coffee farmer from the village of Sport Piura in Huabal, Jaen, Cajamarca. Sergio grows caturra and yellow bourbon varieties on his family farm over an area of around 3ha. Although not certified, Sergio uses organic fertiliser on his farm and doesn’t use any agrochemicals, this is in part due to the cost of chemical fertilisers but also because of a personal preference for all things natural. 

Sergio has planted a lot of shade trees, despite the high altitude, which are leguminous species that create a natural source of nitrogen in the soil. The shade provides a number of benefits to his farm, reducing weed growth rate, reducing the need for fertilisers and provides more stable conditions for the coffee plants themselves. Sergio has combined both modern and traditional farming practises, giving the farm a very
presentable appearance with very neat rows and well spaced plants, whilst incorporating many sustainable agricultural practises that have been used for generations. 

Sergio and his family pick their coffee together, since the farm is fairly small they can manage most of the harvest themselves and just call on favours from neighbours in the peak of the harvest. These favours are always returned and it forms a work exchange system which dates back to Incan times and is called Ayni.

Sergio processes all of his coffee using the washed method, and over the years he has developed a protocol which suits the cool climate at the farm. Sergio first rinses and floats fresh cherry in order to remove lower quality beans and to clean the coffee cherries which may come in a bit dirty from the field. Once floated and cleaned the coffee is immediately pulped and placed in grainpro bags inside a ceramic tank. The coffee then ferments for around 48 hours until the mucilage is easily removed.

Sergio dries all his coffee on a covered wooden patio, somewhere between a parabolic dryer and raised beds. This lot was dried in the same way, a tarpaulin mat was placed onto the wooden floor and the coffee spread on top, the whole thing is covered in a thick plastic, similar to that of a parabolic dryer. Coffee takes between 15 and 20 days to dry in this climate and the resulting coffees have a very stable water activity due to the even, slow drying.

*Our coffee is freshly roasted each Monday and Thursday. Orders are dispatched on Wednesday and Friday with Royal Mail Tracked 48. Please allow 2-3 business days for your order to arrive.