Peru
El Guayaquil

Carlos and Nelva, who have been in the coffee production industry for 30 years, bring this lot where we taste lemon sherbet, mango, and pear.

Washed process Caturra

Flavour: Lemon sherbert, mango, pear

Body: Acidity:

Roast: omni (filter + espresso)

Brace yourselves for what our Head Roaster John K describes as “the best Peruvian we’ll have this year”. A light-bodied expressive coffee with plenty of zest and fruitiness.

Finca El Guayaquil is right north of Cajamarca, one of Peru’s most fertile regions thanks to near-perfect coffee-growing conditions: high altitude, rich soil, varying temperature and moderate humidity.

Carlos Vasquez and Nelva Guevara (husband and wife) have learnt to make the best of these conditions. He was introduced to the industry by his grandparents and mother, who encouraged him to look for work at nearby coffee farms during harvest time and thus learn from all the processing stages. Eventually, he bought a piece of land— a mighty ¼ hectare. Over time, El Guayaquil has expanded to 5 hectares, 4 of which grow Caturra and Catuai varietals.

While Carlos has been in the industry for 30 years now, it’s only during the last 5 years that, together with his wife, they’ve been producing specialty-grade coffee. Their goals are to renew the old trees and increase the quality and quantity of specialty coffee. “We will keep working hard to produce amazing coffee for you to drink.”

This lot is a Caturra varietal. It has been washed and dried on a shaded patio for 25 days.

All the images and information about this coffee and producers have been kindly shared by its importer, Caravela Coffee, and edited by us, Sample Coffee (unless linked to or credited otherwise).

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer: Carlos Vasquez & Nelva Guevara
Country: Peru
Region: Jaen, Cajamarca
Altitude: 1850m above sea level
Variety: Caturra
Process: washed
Harvested: November 2021
Importer: Caravela
Body
Acidity
Tasting notes: Lemon sherbert, mango, pear
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Variety

Caturra variety

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon that was originally discovered in Brazil in 1937, considered to be the first naturally occurring mutation ever discovered.

The location

Coffee from Peru

Peru is well suited to coffee cultivation and production, given its high altitude and climate.

The Cajamarca region of Peru

The region is named after it’s capital city, Cajamarca. Comprises the northern area of Peru and the Peruvian Andes

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.