The LAS ETÍOPES coffee from PLOT Roasting is definitely not the kind of coffee that tries to blend in with the crowd. In the cup, you’ll find notes of apricot and red fruit, complemented by subtle hints of jasmine and rose. All these flavors are tied together by a distinct honey-like sweetness, which gives the coffee not only a fruity and floral character but also a pleasantly rounded profile. If you enjoy discovering less common flavors and coffees that have a story to tell, you’ll find something to love here.
High in the Peruvian Andes, in the Jaén area of the Cajamarca region, you’ll find the Las Etíopes farm, which Simon Brown and Merlith Cruz have been building since 2019. Simon moved to Peru after years of working in coffee sourcing, and it was here that he decided to launch his own project. They started the farm with Ethiopian varieties, whose seeds they sourced directly from Ethiopia—hence the name Las Etíopes. Gradually, they added other varieties, such as Gesha, Wush Wush, Sidra, Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra, Catimor, and Pacamara. Simon and Merlith focus not only on growing less common varieties but also on experimenting with coffee processing methods.
What makes this lot particularly interesting is its washed processing with Mosto fermentation. After harvest, the coffee cherries are first rinsed and sorted using flotation; they are then hulled and transferred to stainless-steel tanks, where they ferment for 72 hours. During fermentation, “mosto”—a liquid produced by the fermentation of Geisha coffee in sealed tanks—is added. Mosto helps initiate and control the fermentation process. Once fermentation is complete, the coffee is washed once with spring water and moved to a covered drying tent, where it is slowly dried for approximately 15–20 days. They regularly monitor the fermentation process by measuring pH and Brix levels to ensure they have as much control over the entire process as possible.
- Producers: Simon Brown and Merlith Cruz
- Elevation: 1,950–2,050 m above sea level
- Harvest: August–September 2025