Image: Caffeine & Co studio
The Coffee Atlas
Peru San Martin
Peru San Martin: a high-jungle origin of chocolate, nut and caramel cups, with sourced altitude data and an honest caveat about its flavor scores.
Flavor profile
avg. of 1 published reviewScale: 1-10, Coffee Review / SCA-classic-form convention. Illustrative editorial composite, NOT an average of cupping scores. No Coffee Review lot review for a San Martin coffee turned up in a search of its Peru listings, so no per-attribute scores were averaged. The values are a deliberately modest placement of the profile that independent roasters and importers describe in words (chocolate, nuts, caramel, medium body, medium acidity), and carry no precision beyond that. nReviewsAveraged is 1 only because the schema requires a minimum of 1; it counts the single descriptive source set, not a scored review.
What it tastes like
San Martin sits where the Andean foothills meet the Amazon, and Wikipedia’s overview of Peruvian coffee names it as one of the country’s three prominent growing areas. It is a lower-elevation, high-volume origin: Perfect Daily Grind quotes Ana Salazar, a quality coordinator at the importer Caravela Coffee, describing it as similar to Amazonas but with a medium body and notes of chocolate, nuts, and caramel.
That description is the honest center of the origin. Cooperative lots such as the Alto Mayo washed coffee read as molasses, red fruit, and hazelnut, with a chocolate base and medium acidity, while higher Lamas-province lots can tip toward peach and jasmine at lighter body. The flavor radar above is an editorial placement of that spread, not an averaged cupping score, because no scored Coffee Review lot for San Martin turned up.
Much of the story here is conservation as well as cup. Joffrey’s sells its organic, Fair Trade Alto Mayo as part of a partnership with Conservation International around the Alto Mayo Protected Forest, one of the reasons buyers meet this origin as a certified, traceable cooperative coffee rather than a showpiece microlot.
How to brew it
Method fit for this origin · editorial guidance from roaster convention
A medium-bodied, chocolate-and-nut cup with moderate acidity is the kind of profile that stays pleasant across a full pot rather than needing careful single-cup attention.
Filtered brewing can lift the lighter stone-fruit and floral notes some lots show, though the typical profile is more rounded than showy.
Roasters often pitch the chocolate and caramel base for espresso and milk drinks, but the modest acidity gives less sparkle than a brighter origin.
⚠ Fit tiers are editorial guidance drawn from roaster convention; no industry standard scores brew fit, so we show tiers, never invented numbers. Reflects brew guidance commonly published by specialty roasters for balanced washed South American lots, not an SCA-defined standard.
Altitude & region
Growing elevation, meters above sea level · this entry vs comparison bands
Peru San Martin's range is sourced from two retailer listings of the same Alto Mayo cooperative lot (see Sources & data), and other San Martin sources report both lower and higher bands, so treat it as a typical specialty-lot range, not a department-wide measurement. Colombia Huila, Kenya AA, and Brazil Cerrado are shown for scale using the same commonly published origin altitude bands used elsewhere on this site, not lot-specific measurements.
Caffeine content
Caffeine by dry weight · each gold dot = 0.1%
Caffeine content tracks species, not origin, altitude, or processing: Robusta beans contain almost twice as much caffeine as Arabica (see Sources & data). This entry is 100% Arabica; no credible per-origin caffeine figure exists at a category level, so the comparison above is by species only, not a measurement of this specific lot.
Where to buy it
Transparency: some links on this site are affiliate links; if you buy through them we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Roasters are picked for genuine, current sourcing of this coffee, never for who pays us.
Lists a washed Peru Comite La Palma lot from Lamas province, San Martin (Typica, Caturra, Bourbon), with peach, caramel and jasmine notes; lots rotate, so check availability.
View lot→Sells an organic, Fair Trade Peru Alto Mayo from San Martin, a medium roast described with deep chocolate and vanilla-almond notes.
View lot→Selection is wide and quality varies lot to lot; check roast dates, 100%-origin labeling, and seller reviews before buying.
View lot→Sources & data
- Perfect Daily Grind: A Guide to Peru's Coffee-Producing Regional ProfilesSan Martin altitude (900-1,200 m) and an importer's (Caravela Coffee) description of the profile (medium body, chocolate, nuts, caramel)
- Th3rd Wave Coffee: San MartinAltitude (1,200-1,900 m), washed process, Caturra/Pache/Typica/Bourbon/Mundo Novo, Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Alto Mayo (over 943 families), molasses, red fruit and hazelnut notes
- SAT Coffee: Peru San MartinIndependent corroboration of 1,200-1,900 m, washed process and the same variety mix; chocolate base, caramel, medium acidity
- Fathom Coffee: Peru Comite La Palma (washed)Lamas province, San Martin lot: 1,700-2,100 m, Typica/Caturra/Bourbon, peach, caramel, brown sugar and jasmine, light-to-medium body
- Joffrey's Coffee: Organic Peru Alto MayoSan Martin origin, USDA Organic and Fair Trade, deep chocolate and vanilla-almond notes, tie to the Alto Mayo Protected Forest project
- Wikipedia: Coffee production in PeruNames San Martin as one of Peru's three prominent coffee-growing areas on the eastern slopes of the Andes
- Coffee Review: Peru coffee referenceGeneral Peru profile: Typica as the traditional variety, soft and balanced cup character, Peru as a leading organic producer
- Crozier et al.: Espresso coffees, caffeine and chlorogenic acid intake (Food & Function, 2012)Peer-reviewed (Univ. of Glasgow): states robusta coffee beans contain almost twice as much caffeine as arabica, by species (no percentage figures given in this paper)