Irene Herrera - La Mandarina

TASTING NOTES

This elegant cup opens with a burst of tangerine followed by strawberry fondants and a spoonful of brown sugar. As it finishes, there's a little lime juice and a delicate floral note too.

FARM INFO

While looking through samples from Cajamarca in Peru, this Washed Marshell coffee really stood out on the cupping table for its elegance and clarity. We were cupping with the Origin Coffee Lab team (our local exporters) and looking for something really tasty to fill a gap in our Peruvian coffee offering this year. When they shared the name of the producer with Roland - Irene Herrera - it was a light bulb moment.

A Happy Coincidence

The La Coipa district is nestled in the north east corner of the Cajamarca region of Peru. La Coipa is a fantastic coffee-producing area - the locale of Nima Juarez (El Roble and La Quebrada) whose coffee we have enjoyed in previous years, and Kelvin Guerrero (La Esmerelda) whose coffee we released earlier this year. 

In 2022 Roland went to Peru for the first time, after we had purchased some coffees from there the year previous. It was his first trip with Origin Coffee Lab - who we’re now lucky enough to know well - and they headed to the La Coipa village. Through the course of the morning they walked past several coffee farms, finishing up at their destination for lunch at the house of head of Gallitos de Rocas comite, Milciades Minga… and his wife Irene Herrera!

Hospitality and Horticulture

The couple's house is a little larger than some other nearby houses, maybe because Milciades is also a carpenter. The top floor is used for drying coffee, with living space and kitchen below. Guinea Pigs are kept inside in a pen - a staple food animal in Peru, known as Cuy (pronounced Coo-ee). Alongside a big lunch by Irene, they enjoyed an excellent fruit punch made in a barrel by mixing fruit juice and the local cane sugar spirit Yonke.

The farm La Mandarina is just behind the house and includes a small nursery of baby plants. As with many Cajamarca farms, it's a steep climb to the top and Roland was hard pressed to keep up with Irene! The small estate spans from 1,750 to 2,000 metres above sea level. Irene cultivates Caturra, Marshell, and Bourbon varieties - the lot we have here has been separated from the Marshell trees only. The flowering period occurs from October to December, and the harvest takes place between May and September, with peak months from June to August 2024. 

Once selectively picked, as is typical in Peru, the coffee has been Washed processed. The cherries are depulped, fermentated in a tank for 24-36 hours, washed, and dried in solar dryers for 10-15 days.

Mysterious Marshell 

Marshell's origins are still being debated. The most widely held view is that it's a natural mutation of Bourbon, first spotted in 1997 by a farmer called Grimanés Morales Lizana on her farm in San Ignacio, Cajamarca. She propagated from it after a disease outbreak wiped out everything around it, and named it drawing on the names of her family members, including her father-in-law Marcelino. An alternative theory, backed by some genetic testing, suggests Marshell may be related to Costa Rica 95, a Catimor-group cultivar developed by ICAFE from Caturra and Timor Hybrid 832/1. No definitive published research has settled the question either way.

What both theories agree on is the disease resistance. Many Peruvian farmers were encouraged to plant Catimor varietals through the mid-2010s by cooperatives, exporters, and government programmes to help combat leaf rust and other diseases. Catimors divide opinion in the coffee community: partial Robusta genetics can lead to flat, vegetal cup profiles when not handled with care. This lot is a reminder that they don't have to.

For more on the coffee varietals behind Marshell, read our varietal guides on Catimor, Bourbon, and Marshell itself.

The World Leader in Organic Coffee

Despite being the 9th largest producing country globally, exporting approximate

Produced by Irene Herrera in the Cajamarca region of Peru, this lot showcases the unique potential of the Marshell varietal. Grown at elevations between 1750 and 2000 meters above sea level, the coffee undergoes a traditional washed process, a technique that typically emphasizes a clean cup profile and highlights the inherent acidity of the bean. You can learn more about how this method influences the final cup in our processing methods explainer.

The resulting profile from Ozone Coffee NZ presents a vibrant interplay of citrus and sweetness, featuring notes of tangerine, lime juice, strawberry fondants, and brown sugar, underscored by a delicate floral character. When evaluating such complex profiles, many enthusiasts find it helpful to reference the flavor wheel to better identify and articulate these nuanced sensory experiences. This offering serves as a compelling example of the high-quality output currently emerging from Peruvian producers dedicated to meticulous cultivation and processing standards.