Cafédirect Organic Machu Picchu Peru Coffee Beans, 750g
Peru is the origin to reach for when Italian blends have started to taste like an argument. The character is gentle and clean rather than heavy, a soft rounded acidity with a nutty, caramel-leaning finish and no bitterness worth the name. That mildness is also the limit: pulled short and hot in an espresso basket it can read thin, and it gives far more in a cafetiere, a filter or a moka pot than it does under nine bars. Whole beans, so a grinder is part of the purchase, and 750g is a lot of coffee to keep in good condition in a house that drinks one a day.
Cafédirect Organic Machu Picchu Peru Coffee Beans, in brief.
Cafédirect Organic Machu Picchu Peru Coffee Beans is 750g of organic whole beans, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection for households that grind to order.
At an eight-gram dose it holds about ninety-four cups, which is our own calculation on the stated net weight. Peru generally gives gentle acidity, medium body and real sweetness, so it suits filter and cafetiere and takes milk without sugar. The pack name carries organic and no other certification word.
At an eight-gram dose that pack holds about ninety-four cups, our own calculation on the stated net weight rather than a figure from the brand.
Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Common questions are answered in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind Cafédirect
Cafédirect is a British coffee house that built its name on single-origin coffees from smallholder growers, and Machu Picchu is the one most British shoppers recognise. Our reading is that the bag of beans is aimed at a household that owns a grinder and drinks coffee daily, and the small ground pack at someone buying occasionally. That is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description, not a specification handed to us.
On certification we are going to be precise. The pack name carries the word organic and we repeat it as the pack's word. If a mark matters to you, read the current UK pack rather than this page.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Sourcing And Packaging
- Weight: seven hundred and fifty grams.
- Yield: about ninety-four cups at an eight-gram dose, our own calculation on the stated net weight.
- Whole beans: a grinder is not optional. If you do not have one, buy the 200g ground pack instead.
Ideal Extraction Conditions
A medium-bodied single origin with gentle acidity is forgiving at the filter end and demanding at the espresso end. Everything below assumes freshly ground beans, because ground coffee begins losing its aromatics within minutes and that is the whole reason for buying whole beans in the first place.
The Espresso Serve
- Dose: eighteen to twenty grams in a double basket, ground fine enough that the puck holds together when you tap it.
- Water: ninety-three to ninety-six degrees. Below that a gentle coffee reads thin and sour; above it the bitterness arrives.
- Target: about thirty-six grams in the cup in twenty-six to thirty seconds. Runs fast, grind finer; chokes, coarser.
- Milk: the natural sweetness carries a flat white well, which is not true of every single origin. No sugar needed.
The Cafetière And Filter Serve
- Cafetière: sixty grams of coarsely ground coffee per litre, four minutes, then break the crust, skim and plunge slowly.
- Pour-over: a medium grind, a thirty-second bloom with twice the coffee weight in water, then pour in slow circles to finish around three minutes.
- Water: just off the boil, about ninety-four degrees. Boiling water scalds a medium roast and takes the sweetness with it.
- Why it suits filter: soft acidity and medium body are exactly what a long brew flatters. This is the method we would start with.
Grinding, Dosing And Storage
- Grind to order: grind only what you are about to brew. This is the single biggest difference between a good cup and a dull one, and it is the reason to buy beans at all.
- Keep the bag sealed: cool, dark, dry and airtight. Oxygen and warmth are what stale coffee, not time on its own.
- Not the fridge: damp and full of smells, both of which beans take on. A cupboard away from the hob is better.
- Freezing: workable for long storage in small airtight portions used without thawing the whole bag. A bag going in and out of the freezer every morning picks up condensation.
- Pace yourself: 750g is a lot of coffee for a light drinker, so if you are one, the 200g ground pack may genuinely be the better buy.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Cafédirect Organic Machu Picchu Peru Coffee Beans, 750g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Cafédirect
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
Sourcing and packaging details are printed on the current UK pack; the brand page carries the fuller story.
The taste profile
How does it compare
Cafédirect Organic Machu Picchu Peru Coffee Beans, 750g is a medium-bodied single origin with gentle acidity, forgiving at the filter end and more demanding at the espresso end. Five methods below cover the cafetière it suits best, a pour-over, espresso with milk, a moka pot and an overnight cold brew.
Made with this tea
The Cafetière, Properly
How to make The Cafetière, Properly with Cafédirect Machu Picchu Beans.
- 60g Cafédirect Machu Picchu beans, coarsely ground
- 1 litre water at about 94C
- A grinder set coarse
- A spoon for the crust
- Grind 60g coarsely, immediately before brewing. A fine grind in a cafetiere gives sludge and bitterness rather than strength.
- Pour water just off the boil over the grounds, filling the pot, and set a timer for four minutes.
- Break the crust at four minutes with a spoon, then skim off the foam and floating grounds and discard them.
- Plunge slowly and pour immediately. Coffee left sitting on the grounds keeps extracting and turns bitter.
What you'll end up with: The method this bean suits best and the hardest one to get wrong, with the two steps most people skip: breaking the crust and pouring it all out.
Pour-Over for One
How to make Pour-Over for One with Cafédirect Machu Picchu Beans.
- 18g beans, ground medium
- 300ml water at about 94C
- A timer
- A cone, a filter paper and a scale
- Rinse the paper with hot water first and tip the water away, which removes the papery taste and warms the cone.
- Bloom with 36ml of water, twice the coffee weight, and wait thirty seconds while the bed swells and degasses.
- Pour the rest in slow circles in two or three additions, keeping the bed level and finishing at about three minutes.
- Taste before adjusting. Thin and sour means grind finer; harsh and drying means grind coarser.
What you'll end up with: The cleanest cup this coffee gives, where the gentle acidity and the sweetness both have room rather than being buried under body.
Espresso and a Flat White
How to make Espresso and a Flat White with Cafédirect Machu Picchu Beans.
- 18-20g beans, ground fine
- 150ml whole or oat milk
- Water at 93-96C
- A tamper and a scale
- Dose 18 to 20g into a double basket, distribute evenly and tamp level. An uneven puck channels and the shot is lost before it starts.
- Pull for about 36g in the cup in 26 to 30 seconds. Faster than that, grind finer; slower, grind coarser.
- Steam the milk to about 60C with a fine even microfoam rather than big bubbles.
- Pour and taste it before reaching for sugar. The natural sweetness of a Peruvian coffee usually makes sugar unnecessary.
What you'll end up with: A flat white that does not need sugar, which is the clearest demonstration of why Peruvian coffee gets used in blends as often as it does.
Moka Pot on the Hob
How to make Moka Pot on the Hob with Cafédirect Machu Picchu Beans.
- Beans ground just coarser than espresso
- Pre-boiled water to the valve
- A low to medium hob
- A folded tea towel
- Fill the base with water that has already boiled, up to just below the valve. Cold water in the base cooks the grounds while it heats.
- Level the basket of grounds without tamping. A moka pot needs resistance, not compression.
- Brew on a low to medium heat with the lid open and take it off the moment the stream turns pale and starts to gurgle.
- Wrap the base in a damp towel to stop the extraction dead, which is what keeps the last of it out of the cup.
What you'll end up with: A strong, concentrated cup with the bitterness left behind in the pot, which is the difference between a good moka and the reputation it has.
Cold Brew Overnight
How to make Cold Brew Overnight with Cafédirect Machu Picchu Beans.
- 70g beans, ground coarse
- 1 litre cold water
- A large jar
- Ice and milk to serve
- Stir 70g of coarsely ground coffee into a litre of cold water in a jar, making sure every grain is wet.
- Refrigerate for fourteen hours. Longer gets stronger rather than more bitter, because the compounds that carry bitterness need heat to leave the grounds.
- Strain through a paper filter or a fine cloth, which takes two passes and is worth doing properly.
- Serve over ice, neat or cut with milk, and keep the rest in the fridge for up to three days.
What you'll end up with: A markedly sweeter, rounder version of the same coffee with almost no bitterness in it, and the best use for a big bag in summer.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Component | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Whole bean format | 750g whole roasted beans | A grinder is not optional. Ground coffee starts losing its aromatics within minutes, so grinding to order is the single largest difference between a good cup and a dull one, and it is the entire reason to buy beans rather than grounds. |
| Pack format | 750g; about 94 cups at an 8g dose |
Pack: Cafédirect Organic Machu Picchu Peru Coffee Beans, 750g; whole roasted beans from a single Peruvian origin, to be ground to order. Store cool, dark, dry and airtight, and keep the bag sealed between uses: oxygen and warmth are what stale coffee rather than time on its own. Not the fridge, which is damp and full of smells beans take on. Read the net weight, the roast level, the ingredient list, the allergen advice, the recycling instructions and the best-before or roasted-on date off the current UK pack.
Characterising components shown. Peru, Machu Picchu and organic are the brand's own words from the pack name and are repeated as such. The tasting profile describes how a Peruvian single origin typically behaves and how we would set a grinder for one; it is offered as an expectation rather than as a measurement of this particular lot, and it is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We have held no tastings and hold no brand specification sheets.
Sourcing & blend. Cafédirect Organic Machu Picchu Peru Coffee Beans, 750g is made by Cafédirect, a British coffee house that built its name on single-origin coffees from smallholder growers. Our reading is that the bag of beans is aimed at a household that already owns a grinder and drinks coffee daily, and the small ground pack at someone buying occasionally. That is our own editorial assessment and not a specification from the brand.
What's in Cafédirect Organic Machu Picchu Peru Coffee Beans, 750g, and what isn't:
- In: whole roasted coffee beans from a single Peruvian origin, 750g, nothing else named on the pack.
- No certification beyond the pack's own word: organic is on the name; no other mark is claimed, and no statement is made in the opposite direction.
- Not a decaffeinated line and not a flavoured coffee: the pack name claims neither and we describe neither.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Cafédirect Organic Machu Picchu Peru Coffee Beans, 750g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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