Peru Kevin Torres: Sample Coffee Roasters

Peru
Kevin Torres

Hailing from the Cajamarca region, this lot is a great example of washed process coffees: clean and delicate. Raisin and shortbread sweetness hit up front, with a juicy plum acidity on the finish.

Body Acidity

Roasted omni for filter and espresso

Cajamarca is one of Peru’s top exporters of high-scoring, organic-certified coffee—something green buyers know well. There are hardly any large estate farms (the opposite of Brazil, for example), and almost all producers are smallholders with 2-3 hectares of land. Kevin is one of them.

In El Mango, he grows a mix of varietals and this lot features specifically Catimor, Bourbon, and Castillo. These have grown at 1480 metres above sea level, which is not very high compared to the average in the area, but high enough to harvest healthy cherries packed with flavour.

A meticulous washed fermentation process gives what we appreciate the most in our daily cup of coffee: clarity of flavour, clean sweetness and balanced acidity. Plum and raisin sweetness abound, balanced with a more-ish shortbread texture.

“El Mango is located in La Laguna, district of San José del Alto, province of Jaén, Cajamarca (Peru). The farm is called like so because it has a mango tree that has existed for many years—it was planted by my parents—around which I played with my brothers. Also, I admit that mango is one of my favourite fruits.

The farm is our family’s livelihood, and it represents the hard work and passion for growing coffee that my parents instilled in me. I am very grateful for it.

My plans are to plant high-quality varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases, also improving some of the processes in the long term.”

Green coffee certifications: Organic

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

Resting beans inside the sealed bag helps develop peak flavours and acidity

Learn how long and why you should wait in our brewing window recommendations.

Try our brew recipes and videos

Our brewguide recipes are easy to follow and designed to bring the best out of our coffee.

1:3
dose:yield
ratio

To brew on espresso, we recommend using 20g of beans (dose) to get 60g of espresso out (yield), during 24-28 seconds.

g dose

g yield

View the how to brew espresso (single origin) guide.

1:16.7
beans:water
ratio

To brew in infusion/fed brewers (V60, Chemex) use a ratio of 1:16.7 ratio of beans:water.

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:14.3
beans:water
ratio

To brew in immersion brewers (plunger, AeroPress, Kalita, batch brewer) we recommend using a 1:14.3 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:12
beans:water
ratio

To brew as cold brew we recommend using a 1:12 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

Producer: Kevin Jhoel Torres
Farm/Coop: El Mango
Country: Peru
Region: Cajamarca
Altitude: 1480m above sea level
Varietals: Catimor, Bourbon, and Castillo
Process: Washed
Harvested: July 2023
Body
Acidity
Tasting notes: Plum, raisin, shortbread
Roast style: Omni

Varietals

Bourbon varietal

A natural mutation of the Typica varietal, Bourbon is named after Reunion Island (then known as Il Bourbon) where the French cultivated the Typica plants which naturally mutated.

Castillo varietal

Castillo is named after the researcher Jamie Castillo, who helped develop the varietal in 2005 by Cenicafe, Colombia’s coffee research centre

Catimor varietal

A hybrid variety of the Caturra and the Timor Hybrid (resistant to coffee leaf rust due to its Robusta genetic roots).

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.