Cuppa'Coffee #1: Junin, Peru/Japanese Siphon
When we arrived in Arequipa, apart from being amazed at the architecture and shining bright white stones (forged by lava), we quickly felt thirsty! The city is quite hilly and since it was early in the morning, we decided to go for a coffee.
Unlike what one can expect, even though Peru is the world's 10th producer of coffee, the people there don't consider the black drink anything special and the norm is instant coffee. So, not that we are fussy (yes, we are...), but it took us a while to find a proper coffee shop that wasn't either a Starbucks or a place with powdered dehydrated coffee-flavoured teabags. And that's when we encountered Kafi Wasi! With a list of about 10 brewing methods available, coffee beans originating from every corner of Peru and even a small plant of coffee outside, this had to be the place! We were greeted by Diego Cisneros Pinto, the owner. The guy was the most passionate barista we had met in a while, he talked us through what was on offer, never too pushy on anything, and proudly described the many coffees of Peru. He even ran to the back a couple of times to bring back some jars of beans we could smell.
As I said, it was the early morning and we hadn't had a single coffee in us so far, we were empty-handed: no camera, no notepad, nothing... So, we asked Diego if we could organise a coffee tasting for one of the following days since we were gonna stay there about 4 days. His answer was quick, looking at the roster, he said:
- Why don't you come back tonight, 8:00pm?
And this is how we got our latest and perhaps best coffee tasting ever! The show (no better word) lasted for about 1 hour, with three baristas showcasing three different origins and three brewing methods, only for us! It was so good, we thought it was the perfect occasion to start our new series "Cuppa'Coffee". It had been a while since we were thinking about it, so here we go, sit back, grab a coffee & enjoy the first episode!
In this first episode, Johan Araujo Fernandez Hernani teaches us about Junin, the highlands of Peru & the Japanese Siphon method.
PS: Junin is located well above 2000 feet, at about 13,500 feet or 4117 meters above sea level, hence the fact that the coffee is full-bodied and very concentrated in aromas, while Peruvian coffee is usually softer.
Have fun!
Max
