La Escondida Laurina - Low Caf - Nicaragua Filter

These beans from Nicaragua are of the rare and delicate variety Laurina. Tricky to find and even trickier to grow, Laurina has seen a huge spike in demand as a fantastic tasting low caffeine option. Unlike decaffeinated coffee which has its flavour profile altered by the commercial process that removes caffeine, Laurina naturally contains only half the caffeine of typical Arabica coffees.

This natural deficiency is at once what makes Laurina exciting and challenging. We love low-caf coffee because it means that we can drink more of it, but the lower caffeine content poses challenges too. For one, caffeine acts as a natural pesticide in coffee, as its bitter taste and powerful stimulant effects ward off many insects and animals who might eat coffee cherries. Less caffeine means Laurina is a more delicate crop to grow, producing around 20% less coffee per hectare than other Arabica varieties. This in turn makes it a riskier crop for farmers to plant, as this lower yield and higher risk isn't necessarily recouped in the higher price Laurina fetches.

The team at the Finca La Escondida, part of the Mierisch family of farms and run by Jose Elias Contreras have been growing Laurina for several years now, and we're again impressed with the results. The low caffeine content lowers the bitterness in the cup, with a smooth-as-silk white chocolate sweetness and refined, rich, and juicy acidity that tastes like peaches and clementines.