Finca El Socorro - low caffeine
A sweet, smooth and delicate coffee from the El Socorro farm in Guatemala.
Origin: Guatemala, Palencia
Farm: Finca El Socorro
Variety: Laurina
Process: washed
Notes: toasted almonds, nougat, red apple
Brewing: I absolutely love this on espresso! It can hold up well to milk in smaller milk drinks and also makes a very soft and low acidity pourover or aeropress.
This coffee has high sweetness but low acidity and low caffeine. It has a complex but subtle profile and works well across differnt brew methods. This combined with the fact that it also has only around 1/3 - 1/2 of the caffeine of other arabica cultivars makes this a very versitile coffee a winner for me!
Laurina is a coffee variety that is naturally low in caffeine content. It has 1/3 to 1/2 of the caffeine found in most Arabica coffee plants (which are half as much as Robusta plants such as in supermarket brands). It has light body and lower acidity all of which combine to auger for a bright future, except the plant is difficult to grow. It is prone to leaf rust, a coffee tree killer and the higher caffeine content in other coffee trees help defend themselves against leaf eating pests. That said, Laurina is very attractive both as a tasty coffee and a way to reduce caffeine while retaining full flavor. In fact, some of the coffee's flavors, when grown and processed properly such as in this example, are exotic and present savory and warming flavor notes.
The farmer - Juan Diego De La Cerda - is one of the few producers who almost routinely places in the top five coffees each year in the Guatemala Cup of Excellence, no slight feat given the hundreds of coffees entered in the competition by growers throughout the nation. With over 50,000 small coffee farms, rising to the top tier and maintaining a position there is a major accomplishment. El Socorro has won an award in the Cup of Excellence Competition 8 times in the past 12 years, and placed first in 2007, 2011 and 2020. Awards won have been for different varieties the farm has developed: Bourbon, Maracaturra, Geisha. Ongoing development and consistent results have paid off.
Laurina was first discovered in the early 20th century growing on the small island of Reunion located to the east of Madagascar, itself off the eastern coast of Africa. Reunion was formerly named Bourbon Island and it is part of the story of how coffee made its way from the Far East to the western hemisphere centuries ago. Laurina is thought to be a naturally occurring mutation of the Bourbon varietal and is a dwarfed plant known to be very sweet cupping and creamy in texture. Laurina's more formal name is Bourbon Pointu, so named for its pointy, elongated coffee beans. The trees themselves look as much like Christmas trees as they do coffee trees. This is a coffee variety to keep your eyes on for expansion in the future. Sweet taste, some exotic flavors and less than half the caffeine add up to a highly desirable product, especially for those looking to cut down on caffeine without wanting to transition to decaf. Laurina has become popular among farmers with limited space, as it is a much shorter, slimmer tree than its Bourbon ancestor. Not only can trees be planted closer, but harvesting can be done more quickly as cherries are easier to reach and harvest by hand.