Faustino Flores

Origin: Calamarca, Peru

Process: Anoxic Natural

Variety: Marshell

Importer: Khipu

Harvest: 2024/2025

Per-Kilogram green price: £23.4

Amount purchased: 60kg

Producer Info:

Faustino Flores, a seasoned coffee cultivator based in the El Diamante town, in the San Jose de Lourdes District, part of the San Ignacio Province, in the Cajamarca Region. Faustino is Father to David Flores, the founder of coffee organisation, Finca El Morito. Like David, he is deeply involved in the art of coffee production, but Faustino specialices in innovative cultivation techniques and exploring new coffee varietals. His passion for coffee is rooted in their family tradition, as he is part of a lineage of coffee farmers dedicated to the craft going back a few generations. Faustino Flores plays a pivotal role at Finca El Morito, a famous coffee producing family with 150 hectares across their El Diamante town.. They are known for their exceptional Yellow Caturra with its fruity profile but in the past few years have started to experiment with new varietals, mainly Geisha and this coffee, Marshell. 

Variety Info:

The Marshell varietal is relatively new to the world of coffee and has intriguing characteristics. First of all the genetic makeup of the coffee is a rare form of Catimor, which itself is a hybrid coffee varietal that combines the robustness and disease resistance of Caturra and the Timor Hybrid (a cross of Arabica and Robusta). We had this Marshell genetically tested at RD2 Vision to find out exactly what it was because the flavour and score in the cup is not like a normal Catimor, it far exceeds the usual flavour profiles and delves into the floral and the fruity.

The potential for Marshell is immense because the flavour profiles score high in the cup while also being a tough varietal that can withstand the many diseases that plague coffee production. Since 2019, the Marshell varietals has grown in importance in Peru because it actually won the Cup of Excellence.

From that day, many coffee producers, including Faustino, have made an effort to plant for both sustainability of income and potential for the return on investment. It’s unknown the origins of this exciting varietal but likely that it has come from a breeding program because of how uniform the genetics are and unlikely from a result of grafting two varietals together. This won’t be the last Marshall that we source and we hope to find it improve over time in the cup as it matures at farms while also being able to provide a good yield in spite of all the changing and more challenging conditions at the farms across Peru.

Processing:

The beans are selectively harvested, and then floated to make sure that only ripe cherries remain.The coffee is then placed in sealed tanks for a 72 hours anoxic fermentation.
The cherries are then left to dry in solar dryers 30 days, this extended drying period takes place in the solar dryer using purpose-built dryer modules that stagger the dryer phase at different heights. The design of this process is used to maximise the potential of unique and desirable flavours of the varietal.