A limited new crop derived from lote Pepinal 1, this peaberry variation offers a more "amped-up" flavor that will definitely get your days shine brighter! It conveys a sweet tangerine aroma with caramel and subtle floral notes. The floral notes become more pronounced in the cup, offering a bright acidity, round body and a substantial and intense fruity flavor. It's creamy with hints of cherry, plum, peach, honey and chocolate.
Peaberry, also known as caracoli, is a type of coffee bean. Normally the fruit ("cherry") of the coffee plant contains two seeds ("beans") that develop with flattened facing sides, but sometimes only one of the two seeds is fertilized, and the single seed develops with nothing to flatten it. This oval (or pea-shaped) bean is known as peaberry. Typically around 5% of all coffee beans harvested are of this form.
Peaberry beans roast differently from the corresponding flat berry beans; hence, to ensure an even roast in high-grade coffee peaberry beans are separated.
Peaberry beans are widely reputed to roast better than flat berries, being said to roast more evenly, because their rounder shape minimizes sharp edges and allows the berries to roll about the roasting chamber more easily as well as because the alleged higher bean density may improve heat transfer in the roasting process. However, some sources claim that these effects are minor and that the major benefit of peaberry beans is that they have been carefully selected, which is essential for optimal quality, regardless of bean shape.
What drew Klatch Coffee to Las Mercedes was great coffee, but what we fell in love with was the people, the process, and their passion to make the coffee so great. It begins with hand picking only ripe mature cherries, and then subjecting them to intense screening before depulping to eliminate twigs, leaves and other foreign material. At the wet mill the cherries are received into ceramic tiled ditches, washed with fresh collected rainwater from their own tanks and immediately fed into a pulper, which consists of rotating disks or cylinders, each one fitted with adjustable knives. These are designed to separate the bean from the flesh of the fruit while leaving each bean intact in its parchment envelope. They then dry the coffee on clay patios to ensure even drying.
The same care and consideration invested in the coffee is invested into the Las Mercedes community. The Ortiz Family has always been devoted to taking care of those who have helped in their success, by providing clothing, food and health care. In addition, Las Mercedes is constantly making efforts to preserve natural wild life by taking special care of the disposal of by-products from the mill in order to avoid contamination also, in compliance with our certifications, chemical and pesticides are carefully store and managed by trained personnel, avoiding intoxication and contamination. In the last years, a great effort has been made in planting native trees to preserve these species.
Finca Las Mercedes is a beautiful coffee farm with dedicated owners who care for their community, their workers, the environment and, nonetheless, seek to provided specialty coffee. We are proud to offer this limited Direct Trade coffee that is also Rainforest Alliance Certified. As part of our Direct Trade contract, 25 cents of every pound is given back to fund community sports programs and Los Ortiz medical clinic. To read more about Los Ortiz medical clinic please visit cafelasmercedes.com/dispensary.asp.
