Carlos Saenz Machay Pata from SEY Coffee is a Peruvian coffee that beautifully illustrates why the Amaybamba area is so interesting to SEY. In the cup, you’ll find notes of mango, jasmine, and lychee, giving the coffee a tropical, fragrant character that is at the same time clean, fresh, and elegant, with a delicate floral note and a sweet, exotic juiciness.
The coffee comes from Peru, specifically from the Amaybamba area in the Cusco region. Behind this lot is Carlos Saenz and his Machay Pata farm, where the coffee grows at an elevation of 2,000 meters above sea level. SEY describes this region as very difficult to access, yet exceptionally interesting for both its terroir and the SL9 variety itself. For SEY, this marks the second year of exploring the Amaybamba area and the first year they’ve purchased coffee directly from Carlos Saenz. It is precisely the high altitude, the region’s isolation, and the specific conditions in the valley around Amaybamba that give the coffee its distinctive clarity, aroma, and fruity-floral character.
The variety is SL9, which SEY notes does not yet have an exact genetic profile in the global database; however, its similarity to SL09 supports the use of the working name SL9. Locally, it is sometimes called Gesha Inca, but genetic tests have shown that it does not contain Gesha and is closer to the rare SL09 line from the Ethiopian Legacy group. The processing method is washed—the cherries are hand-picked at optimal ripeness, then defective fruits are removed via floating, and the coffee is hulled on the same day it is harvested. This is followed by 32 hours of wet fermentation, washing, and drying on raised beds until the moisture content drops to 10.5%. As a result, the final cup has a clean, bright, and elegant profile.