Geography and History:
The Peru San Martin de Pangoa coffee comes from just east of the Andes in Central America. The coffee crops are grown at elevations of approximately 3,250 to 6,500 feet (1,000 to 2,000 meters). A farmer’s co-op named “Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Pangoa” (CAC Pangoa for short) that formed back in 1977. The cooperative began with just 50 farmers from a town called San Martin de Pangoa. The co-op now boasts 700 members. The co-op previously had as many as 1,700 members in the 1980s.
Tragic circumstances scared many farmers away from this area. A militant group came through and killed thousands of people and scared off many farmers. This period of time lasted nearly 20 years. This period of time is known as “El Periodo del Terrorismo.”
In the early 2000s, these farmers began to focus on coffees with unique characteristics. The farmers also pursued and received fair trade certification. Shortly after, the farmers began focusing on organic standards and they have been certified there as well for many years.
Many of the farmers in the area also grow cacao and honey. Farmers pursuing economic diversification allows these unique coffees to persist. Under other circumstances, a bad harvest year (or even several years) would likely eliminate many farms. But, these farmers aren’t as heavily affected now, thanks to the other income streams they have. The focus on honey also keeps a strong bee population, which helps with pollination. Through soil enrichment efforts, the long term development of these unique flavor profiles is likely to persist. This persistence of the Peru San Martin de Pangoa coffee will mean that the flavors will become more and more refined for decades to come.
Flavors:
In the early 2000s when farmers began focusing on coffees with unique flavor profiles, things really began to take off. The coffees that they have been perfecting over many harvests now tend to have a medium body. The flavors have a rich chocolate taste and include almond and berry notes.
The types of coffee plants prevalent here are of the Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, and Pache varietals.
Since these varietals tend to be medium-bodied with medium acidity, there is not much of a flavor difference between light and medium roasts. When roasters lightly roast green coffee beans, the flavors with a bigger bite still tend to be present. On the other end of the spectrum, darker roasts tend to eliminate the unique flavor profiles of the coffee beans. The additional roasting also removes more caffeine. For these reasons, Match Made Coffee offers a medium roast of its Peru San Martin de Pangoa coffee.
Cookie Pairing:
The Peru San Martin de Pangoa coffee has unique almond undertones. Naturally, we jumped at the opportunity to make those flavors really jump out. Because of this, the Almond Joyous and does an excellent job of bringing out the subtle flavors here.
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