Peaberry, also known as Caracoli (Caracol in Spanish), is a type of coffee bean. Normally, the seed of the coffee plant develops as two halves of a bean within a single cherry (fruit), but sometimes only one of the two seeds gets fertilized so there is nothing to flatten it. This oval (or pea-shaped) bean is known as Peaberry. The peaberry coffee bean comes from the same tree that produced the other beans. There is no separate, special coffee tree that just produces peaberry beans. Typically around 5% of all coffee beans harvested are of this form. Normal coffee beans are less commonly called, by contrast, "flat berry".

Our ProAgro peaberry coffee beans come from Colonia Alto Berea, Caranavi Province and were processed by one of our main growers, the Cooperative that bears its name. It was harvested by the Colonia members and processed for export at the Cooperative's Central Mill. We obtained this coffee by asking ProAgro to specifically separate the peaberries from the rest of their production. The results were outstanding and we are very happy that we asked!

Peaberry beans roast differently from the corresponding flat berry beans, hence to ensure an even roast peaberry beans are separated. We believe that peaberry beans, as widely reputed, roast (and taste) better than flat berries because they roast more evenly due to their rounder shape, which minimizes sharp edges, and rolls about the roasting chamber more easily, as well as because of the higher bean density, which improves heat transfer in the roasting process. However, there are other roasters who claim that the effect is minor, and that the major benefit of peaberry beans is that they have been carefully selected, which is essential for optimal quality, and that bean shape has no significant impact on the roast. Try a batch and tell us what you think!

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