Hacienda Carmona is located in Antigua at 5200-6100 feet altitude. They call the single-farm coffee from Carmona "Cafe Pulcal" which is the name of their mill as well. The farm dates to early colonial times, but coffee was planted 1800s when the farm was acquired by the Zelaya family, and first exported in 1918. Carmona is run by Maria Zelaya Aguirre since 1959, and she is the third generation that works and lives at Hacienda Carmona. While Maria certainly cares for her coffee, she is also so fond of her herd of cattle that she has named each one after a name of her friends (human friends, that is), so she is indeed quite a character. Luis Pedro Zelaya helps to manage the coffee at this point, and in fact we tried to visit after I finished my duties at the Cup of Excellence this year, but the explosion of Volcan Pacaya followed by torrential rains meant all routes to the farm were impassible. Carmona is said to have a unique micro-climate in the Antigua valley as well as hillside exposure and well-draining soils. To form this lot, we cupped too many small "day lots" to count, selecting those that had the best sweetness and brightness. Day lots are small harvest batches from particular areas of the farm. We opted for middle-of-the-harvest day lots since even and abundant ripeness means better cherry selection, and these are also from the higher reaches of the farm. More information and images about Hacienda Carmona.

Cafe Pulcal is truly a classic Guatemala coffee. Aromatically, the balance of scents is very nice: ginger candy, caramel popcorn, cinnamon bark, and milk chocolate, all in proportion. Adding the hot water, the wet aroma is right in line with the dry fragrance, balanced, brown sugar sweet, with lots of cinnamon, The break produced dark fruits like plum and fig, mulling spices, and a somewhat malty sweetness, hinting at more developed dark sugars. There were some savory aromatics as well such as cumin and coriander. The chocolate in the darker roast aroma suggest the cup will be more aggressively bittersweet, but I am surprised how silky and elegant the overall impression of the cup flavors are. The acidity has a mandarin accent in the cup, giving a more light and effervescent overall character. There is a grape-like sweetness, paired with Thompson raisin, Turkish apricot, and a bittersweet finish. The flavor profile starts strong and opens even more up as the cup cools.

Finca Retana is a very traditional farm in central Antigua situated at 1550 meters on the valley floor, and they have a small portion planted in Yellow Bourbon cultivar, which we've previously offered. This is their Red Bourbon coffee. Bourbon coffees are named after an island in the India Ocean where French colonists originally grew it, now called Reunion. Bourbon coffees tend to ripen earlier than other cultivars, and have a very balanced flavor profile with moderate acidity when cupped with other types planted in the same plot. They seem to have good bean density, and the plant is not stressed to overproduce fruit, unlike some of the modern Catimor hybrids as well as other types. Bourbon trees can remain productive for many years with good care.

There is caramel and cocoa (or rather, it reminds me a bit of Ovaltine!) in the dry fragrance, and reveals more than a trace of dark honey and mulling spice. Modest fruit hints are also present, which come out clearly in the wet aroma. The crust smelled of fresh baked goods like apple pie, or plum cake, and even gave off the smell of hops. Retana cups well, with a restrained flavor profile typical of Antigua coffees as well as Bourbon cultivar. Dried dark fruits like fig, prune, and plum come through in the cup, and the sweetness is characterized by more brown, developed sugars such as muscavado and molasses. The finish is toffee-like with malt all the way through. This is definitely a clean coffee that is combined with a well-integrated acidic snap creating a nicely structured character overall. It's a very refined cup, approachable, with much revealed as it cools. It roasts very well at both light and dark levels, remaining very compact and tightly closed in the crease. It's a versatile cup with a classic Antigua flavor profile, and also an interesting SO espresso.