- THIS IS FOR BUYING ROASTED -
Laurina (Bourbon Pointu) — Pekerau Hills, Northland
Laurina is one of coffee's rare treasures — a naturally low-caffeine variety carrying roughly half the caffeine of typical arabica, with none of the compromise that word usually implies. Descended from Bourbon and first selected on the island of Réunion in the early 1800s, it was prized in the French court, then all but lost to the world for decades before its careful revival. It remains a variety few farms grow, because it is fragile and low-yielding — a coffee that rewards patience rather than volume.
This lot comes from Pekerau Hills, in the far north of New Zealand — at around 35° south, the furthest from the equator coffee is grown anywhere in the world. Rob Schluter and Marie-Elodie Proust have spent years coaxing coffee from this unlikely frontier, where barely a hundred metres above the sea the wide swing between warm days and cool nights ripens each cherry over a full twelve months.
That long, slow maturation is the secret to the cup: dense beans, compounded sweetness, and a complexity you simply can't rush.
Processed as an anaerobic natural — the ripe cherry dried whole — this Laurina leans into its fruit: delicate and elegant, with gentle acidity, very little bitterness, and a sweetness that carries red fruit, florals, and a soft, clean finish. If you've only ever known coffee as something bold and bracing, this is the other side of the plant — subtle, refined, and quietly unforgettable.
