Small and unique: the Peaberry

A couple of weeks ago, we launched a Yemeni peaberry coffee and we sold out in under 2 hours.
Why? Because peaberries are special, smaller seeds, with a taste profile that differs from its regular sized big sibling.
If you missed it, worry not as we have another limited drop. Check it out here!

About 5% of coffee seeds (what most call beans but coffee is actually a seed ;-) ) end up being a peaberry. It’s a natural mutation and, for a while, was labelled a defect. Coffee is usually sorted by bean size and the smallest beans are more often then not discarded and sold on the local market for cheap like other defective seeds. In Kenya for example, the whole export and price system is based on bean size with the AA, AB grade fetching more money than their C grade counterpart, which are smaller. Usually, each coffee cherry grows two seeds of bigger size with the flat face facing each other. The peaberry is way smaller and rounder and grows alone.

So even if the peaberries grew on the same trees, they taste different than the bigger ones. This might be because that one seed didn't have to share nutrients and had more room to develop inside the cherry. There are limited studies and information about this subject so this is just speculation for now. The difference in taste is unmistakable though: the peaberry lots are usually brighter, more acidic and some will say more complex than the regular seeds.

The peaberry, when isolated and well processed, is truly delicious. Since it amounts to about 5% of the total production (up to 10% in some harvests), it's crucial to take the time to isolate them and handle them with the same care as this could lead to higher farmer's profitability.

It's also important to separate them because coffee of different sizes roasts differently. We don't roast Ethiopian coffees (usually very small) the same as we would a bigger bean from Central America.

If you missed the first Yemeni peaberry drop, you are in luck: us receiving this peaberry Alchemy was a mistake as it was mislabelled and sent to us. (we do feel sorry for the people who were suppose to receive it though because this is delicious)

Have you ever had a peaberry brew before? This would be an amazing intro to it!
And if you missed it (again), we have two fresh lot you can check out as well: The Women Alchemy lot (the bigger sized beans sibling to this peaberry, and the Natural community lot, all from the Wadi Mahyad village!