Peru Medium Roast - Inca Trail

Flavor Profile: Comforting and rich with caramel, spices, mild fruitiness, and sweetened condensed milk.
Origin: Guiber Huancas Peña, Cajamarca, Peru
Roast Level: Medium
Elevation: 1,700–1,800 meters
Cultivar: Caturra
Process: Washed

A Journey Along the Inca Trail

This medium roast from Cajamarca leans into the sweeter side of the bean. Caramel and warm spice show up first, followed by a sweetened condensed milk quality that gives the cup a thick, creamy feel. There's a mild fruitiness underneath that keeps it from going one-dimensional. The Caturra at this elevation produces a dense, sweet bean, and the medium roast lets that sweetness develop fully without burning it off.

The Inca Trail is the most well-known section of the Qhapaq Ñan road network, a four-day trek through the Andes that ends at the Sun Gate above Machu Picchu. The route passes through cloud forests, mountain passes above 4,000 meters, and dozens of Inca ruins along the way. Cajamarca, where this coffee is grown, was a major city in the Inca Empire and sits along the northern stretch of that same road system.

Meet the Producer | Current Harvest

This microlot comes from the farm of Guiber Huancas Peña in the Chirinos district of Cajamarca. His farm is part of the PAWQARA cooperative, a group of small-scale growers focused on quality production in the Andes. Journey Coffee Roasters purchased the full harvest of this microlot.

Brewing suggestions: Drip and pour over both work well here. The sweetened condensed milk quality also makes this a natural fit for Vietnamese-style iced coffee if you want to lean into that flavor.