Tasting Notes: Juicy, sweet and sugary with apple, lemon and praline flavors

Importer’s Notes: The Regional Select program was created to highlight the unique profiles we have found that are inherent to various microclimates in many of the countries from which we source green coffee. Local variables like wind patterns, soil quality, sunlight, elevation, and other environmental influencers have much to do with the common characteristics that separate, say, a Northern Colombian from a Southern Colombian coffee, just as they inform the differences between a Colombian and a Kenyan.

For our Regional Select offerings, we source based on cup quality and character, seeking a balance of “taste of place” with availability and price. These lots are built as blends from coffees that cup out between 84–87 on our 100-point cupping scale, and come with regional and often microregional traceability, but are not farm- or producer-specific.

As an origin, Peru has all the conditions necessary to produce world-class coffee: Its high elevation; prominence of good varieties like Typica, Bourbon, and Caturra; and a quality-focused movement among smallholder growers, especially in cooperatives utilizing organic husbandry, is very encouraging for the future recognition these lots will deservedly receive. We seek a softer profile in our Regional Select coffees from Peru, with a marriage of cocoa, lemon, toffee and caramel, almond, and soft fruit like plum or sweet cherry.