Madres y Maestras Colombia Microlots
ROASTING IN FEBRUARY
Your next great cup of coffee has arrived. This year’s Madres y Maestras limited release is a fruity and floral dark roast with incredible complexity. This single origin coffee comes courtesy of a small (but growing larger every year) co-operative of women farmers in the highlands of Colombia. You might remember the same group from years past. Not sure? We’re happy to tell you all about them again. It’s a great story, and an incredible coffee.
MAY WE REINTRODUCE…
Longtime Peetniks will recognize the origin, Huila, Colombia, and might even recognize this co-op of female farmers who skillfully brought this coffee to market. We’ve been working with them for years, watching their farms expand as their businesses thrived. These ‘Maestras’ have mastered (hey, that’s just like the name!) every step of coffee farming, from planting to processing. You can taste their skill and care in each meticulous cup.
THEY’VE GOT THE SKILLS
The women of Madres y Maestras pick the fruit at just the right time, ferment the seeds, and let them sun-dry in their yards, checking for readiness by hand. And while they’ve learned the careful craft of coffee farming, many were also top of their class at the Women’s Center for Entrepreneurship, a business training program co-founded by Peet’s in Huila, Colombia.
Some are also members of Mujeres to Market, a microloan program sponsored by Peet’s (hi, again) which helps them expand their farms’ outputs to span the seasons. Others are sharing their learnings and training the next generation to invest in their own farms and families’ futures. Their impact on their community is as important as their expertise is on these microlots. Through our sponsorships and your purchases, we’ve been able to help them bolster their knowledge, their goals, and their families.
SPEAKING OF MICROLOTS
Each of these small-scale farms produces just a few bags of beans, so you could say this coffee is personal for these women farmers. This batch is so small (“How small is it?”), that if you’re a Small Batch Series subscriber, you could call this one is a Teeny Tiny Batch delivery. These farms are so small (don’t worry, we won’t say it again), these women farmers can see the sun-drying beans from their kitchen windows—this time, it’s not a joke. This coffee really does get closely cared for, and it’s noticeable in its delicious complexity and exceptional taste.
THE REGIONALITIES OF FLAVOR
Though the farms that contribute to this single origin are all small, the terroirs vary greatly and the high-grown beans are dense, together bringing distinct tasting notes and big body to the final batch. Heavenly tasting notes of chocolate ganache, strawberry, and angel food cake float through (though our tasters could have kept listing). We all agreed that it’s exceptionally high in quality and complexity. Our roastmaster called this coffee a “wonderful selection” from “arguably the best producers in the area.” We can’t wait for you to try it, and we hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do.
FRESH FROM THE PEET’S ROASTERY
When this washed coffee from the Department of Huila in southwestern Columbia first arrived at our Roastery, we took note of the mixed dark green and lighter olive-green hues of the unroasted beans. They were mostly medium in size, and we found some that were small and round, and some with silverskin still present. When we first opened the bag the smell from the beans was earthy, like grass and a hint of volcanic soil.
This coffee roasted consistently and was easy to finish to the desired color. All four batches had pretty remarkable consistency, with just the first taking a little longer than the others. The sound of the beans popping at first crack was extremely loud. It built up to a peak that you could easily hear outside of the roaster; the volume was such that we were able to cut back the heat on the last batches without ever pulling out the tryer to listen. The grassy and earthy smell the coffee had when it was green became very sweetly fruity, and had hints of malt. It’s a great Colombian coffee (and not just because it’s so easy to roast).
At cupping, we were able to evaluate all four profiles with six tasters, blind and randomized. It was a challenging tasting in the best way (all profiles performed beautifully—well done to our roasters!). These Huila lots have a lot of personality, offering a great range of profiles. Profile number one—the one you’ll bring home—emerged as the preferred cup among tasters. The cup was full-bodied, jammy, and complex, with bright pink lemonade-like acidity, abundant stone fruit both in the cup and on the nose, tomato leaf aromatics, notes of strawberry and orange peel, and a pronounced chocolate character as the cup cooled. (We said it’s complex and we meant it.) It lingered nicely and continued to open up as it cooled, making for a very expressive and balanced cup.
-John Nicolini and Michael Madden, Roasters; Jamie Smith, R&D
PEET’S LIMITED RELEASE COFFEES
You might think that a monthly coffee subscription sounds amazing in and of itself, but Peet’s coffee-of-the-month takes it a step further than most. Good things come in small packages, and we only get these coffees in small batches, which is why you can only find them at peets.com and only for a month at a time. They’re special. And while you don’t have to be a Small Batch Coffee subscriber to experience these amazing coffees, their fleeting nature means they can sell out—fast. So subscribing guarantees you get to taste each one of these incredibly special lots.