Peru Merly Leon - Yellow Caturra Washed

Merly León is a specialty coffee producer based in Callayuc, in Peru’s northern Cajamarca region. Her farm sits high in Queromarca, around 2,250 metres above sea level, where cool temperatures, strong sunlight and slow cherry maturation create ideal conditions for clean, expressive coffee. Merly is known as a curious and quality-focused producer, continually refining her work on the farm and experimenting with techniques to improve each harvest. Alongside her sister Ismeria, who also farms in the region, she represents a new generation of Peruvian producers pushing quality forward through careful farming, processing and a deep connection to the land.
The broader Callayuc district has significant variation in elevation, biodiversity, valleys, forests, and mountain terrain, creating the kind of microclimate diversity that can produce distinctive microlots.

WASHED PROCESS:
After harvest, Merly’s cherries are carefully selected for ripeness before being depulped, removing the outer skin and fruit from the seed. The coffee is then fermented with the remaining mucilage still attached, allowing it to naturally break down before being fully washed clean with water. From there, the parchment coffee is dried slowly and carefully until stable.

Because this is a washed process, the cup is less about heavy fermentation or big fruit intensity, and more about clean structure, soft acidity and transparency.

Yellow Caturra is a natural mutation of Caturra, itself a compact mutation of Bourbon, known for good sweetness, clarity and high-quality potential when grown well. Its yellow cherries often bring a softer, rounded fruit character in the cup, with gentle citrus, stone fruit and honey-like sweetness. In high-altitude washed coffees like this Peru, Yellow Caturra can contribute elegance, clean acidity and a smooth, approachable structure.

For filter brewing, a good starting point that we use:

V60 / flat-bottom filter

Coffee: 15 g
Water: 250 g
Ratio: 1:16.5
Water: 88-92°C
Grind: coarse
Total brew time: 2:20–3:00

With our filter roasts, we prize clarity above all, therefor we generally recommend grinding much coarser than you might expect.
Typically we find the most enjoyable brews between 2-3 minutes.