Green Coffee Offerings : Central America : Guatemala


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We went in for a lot of Guatemalan coffee this year - a container of different lots arrived in early June (look for the photo on our Flickr page), and then more arrived later in June and early July. We will be selling them through the summer and fall.


About Guatemalan Coffee

Map of Guatemala

 
 

Guatemalan coffee is revered as one of the most flavorful and nuanced cups in the world. Due to our proximity to Guatemala, some of the finest coffees from this origin come to the United States. Guatemalan growing regions vary in their potential cup quality: many have sufficient altitude, soil and climate conditions. Antiguas are well-known and highly rated. Huehuetenango from the north highland can be exceptional and have distinct fruit flavors. Coban, Fraijanes and Quiche can be nice, but they need to be cupped carefully: they can have a nice cup but sometimes less complexity and depth. Atitlan has produced some very fine coffees in the past few years. But remember, you can't count on any origin to necessarily produce a great coffee: the quality cup is still hard to find among even the most celebrated and recognized regions ...in this case Antigua.

Politics in Guatemala have often interfered with the quality of Guatemalan coffee, and more importantly the shared success of the coffee farmer great and small. Unfortunately, if you read the history books, we have played a role in the state-sponsored violence. In general, remember this: specialty coffee purchases from co-ops, smaller farms or single-owner estates (that is, all the coffee we offer). To support the "coffee elite" you buy lower-grade, low-grown cheap coffee produced and sold in huge volumes through the giant exporters. In general, buying Specialty coffee sold from small lots and established farms and co-ops means you are supporting farms and workers in a fairly direct way. Guatemala imposes a minimum wage for coffee-pickers, and it is paid on established farms and co-ops, but with the low-grown no-name coffees, who knows? Many of Sweet Maria's coffees from Guatemala are bought with direct contact from the farm, and prices negotiated with the farmer per our Farm Gate Coffee program.

It's a bit dated, but here is a travelogue I did for a trip to northern Guatemala. More recently, my notes and pictures from the 2006 Guatemala Cup of Excellence competition are uploaded and 2 trips from early 2008, linked from our Coffee Library page.- Tom

* For more info...


Beautiful, well-fertilized:
Super shiny coffee Finca Rabanales in Fraijanes region, 2006


A stream through Finca El Injerto, Huehuetenango

Cup of Coffee? Yes, of a sort. Reproducing coffee from plant material, not seeds, at the Anacafe research lab. No, this isn't genetic "franken-coffee," just a reliable way they are experimenting with hybrids.

Our Guatemalan Offerings

Please refer to our Reference Page for definitions of terms and cupping numbers used below. Check out the Sweet Maria's Coffee Home Roasting Forum for more conversation about home roasting this and other coffees.



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Guatemala Antigua Puerta Verde Bourbon
$5.70$10.83$24.80$47.31$87.78
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Puerta Verde is a 4th generation family coffee farm in the Ciudad Vieja (Old City) Antigua, Guatemala. It is named for the green door that marks the entrance to the coffee farm. It's a medium-sized farm at 41 hectares, and like all Antigua coffees has great altitude (1539 meters). Since they don't have a wet mill, the coffee is processed by the respected Zelaya family nearby (Bella Carmona estate). It was also graced with 7th place for a lot entered in the '09 Guatemala Cup of Excellence, and was the top coffee from Guatemala in the 2010 Coffee of the Year event at SCAA. Guatemala Antiguas are a bit tricky. When the mills in the area buy coffee cherry, it might be Antigua, or it might be from Acatenango or Chimaltenango or elsewhere. They have attempted to certify Antigua appellation coffees, but it's another fee that adds to the cost, and many aren't willing to bear it. The best way to get a great Antigua is to buy from a known small farm, and that's the case here with Puerta Verde (and our other farm-direct Antigua coffees this year).

Puerta Verde is a really nice cup this year, and lined up against other Antiguas, has a very nice chocoalte bittersweet balance and mildly fruited quality. Second batch of roasts I did tended toward a butter-caramel sweetness. The dry fragrance at optimal roast levels (City+) has that classic sweet - bittersweet balance. There's an strong chocolate scent at Full City roast, and a bit lighter I find the same butter-caramel hints, along with a slight trace of aromatic cedar. To this, the wet aroma adds a touch of sandalwood, hop flower and malt stout beer. In the cup, intense bittersweet notes are balanced by creamy body. It's a classic Bourbon cup, juicy mouthfeel, restrained flavors, classic Central America brightness and balance. When lined up with other Antigua lots in particular, traces of fruit are evident; apple notes at City+ and dark berry at Full City roast levels.





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Ripe cherry on the tree at Puerta Verde farm, Ciudad Vieja
Country: Guatemala
Grade: SHB
Region: Antigua, Sacatepequez Department
Mark: Puerta Verde, S.A., Zelcafe
Processing: Wet-Process
Crop: August 2010 Arrival
Appearance: 0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen
Varietal: Bourbon
Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity/ Sweet, lightly fruited and delicate Antigua cup profile
Roast: City+ is ideal here.
Compare to: Classic, sweet, clean Guatemala. We pulled some nice SO espresso shots from this coffee.
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Guatemala Bourbon -Finca San Diego Buena Vista
$5.50$10.45$23.93$45.65$84.70
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Acatenango is one of the under appreciated growing regions of Guatemala. It has always been overshadowed by nearby Antigua, and in fact many Acatenango coffees were sold as Antigua lots for many years. In mill-mark Antiguas, this is still the case, since farmers who sell cherries or the collectors who round it up and bring it to the mill rarely respect such boundries. But Acatenango coffees come from some of the most beautiful farms I have seen in Guatemala, and San Diego Buena Vista is a case in point. I have visited this farm and was impressed with their practices, the way they have separated all the cultivars on the farm, and the beautiful condition of the mill. When I was there, all the harvest was in, and they were reconditioning the mill, replacing bearings, cleaning and painting. Reinvestment and pride are always good signs at a mill! Cleanliness doesn't hurt either, and the SDBV mill, while quite old, was beautiful, even down to the flowers rimming the office alongside the drying patio. It's a really classic Guatemala coffee too, a balanced and well-structured flavor profile. The dry fragrance of the SDBVB is has a really distinct toffee sweet scent, as well as honey on buttered toast. There is a sharper sweet scent in the wet aromatic, slight berry fruits, caramelized brown sugar, and lots of, er, classic coffee scent! The body is a key feature here, with a distinct thick, dense mouthfeel. The cup is Guatemala all the way. It has that great relationship between sweetness and bittersweetness, as well as brightness, body and cup flavor. Initially the vanilla and caramelly taste and syrupy body are on the palate, but they fade into tangy bittering notes ... good bitter, coffee bitter. There's cinnamon and other warming spices, a hint of Zacapa here between the caramel-vanilla and spice notes. In light roasts there's a citric brightness, a bit of red apple fruit toward the finish, while darker roasts have a more blackberry tone. In terms of this great balance of cup qualities, this is the expression of Bourbon cultivar all the way. Which also makes it my current favorite for SO espresso. It is incredible as espresso; lemon-zested chocolate velvet!



This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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Coffee blooms on the tree at Finca San Diego Buena Vista, from earlier this year.
Country: Guatemala
Grade: SHB/EP
Region: Acatenango
Mark: Finca San Diego Buena Vista
Processing: Wet Process
Crop: June 2010 Arrival (GrainPro)
Appearance: .0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen
Varietal: 100% Bourbon Cultivar
Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium Intensity / classic Guatemala character, amazing body, balanced flavors
Roast: City to Full City+. This coffee works well anywhere along the medium roast spectrum, and FC to FC+ makes great SO espresso as well!
Compare to: A "restrained" and approachable Guatemala flavor profile, rich chocolate roast tastes, thick mouthfeel.
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Guatemala Finca La Bella JBM Cultivar
$5.95$11.31$25.88$49.39$91.63
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Finca La Bella is near San Cristobal Acasaguastlan in El Progreso, and is a fourth generation coffee farm. It is the only farm in El Progreso department that we have coffee from, but it is unique in other ways too. La Bella is a larger farm that happens to have a small plot of Jamaica Blue Mountain Typica cultivar. And that is what we have here, the separated micro-lot of JBM coffee. As you may know, we buy a JBM cultivar from Kona, but we haven't actually bought a Jamaica coffee in quite a few years now. Why? I think you can guess ... it's the cup: Flat, dull, boring, blah. On the other hand we realize there is a degree of novelty in offering these pure JBM cultivar coffees grown in other locales. They were never planted in order to cash in on the name, and I can't tell you in a side-by-side cupping which would be a traditional Typica, and which is the JBM Typica. But I will say this is an old, traditional low-yield cultivar, and it cups like one. The fact this small lot receives a premium price, and is treated by a true micro lot by Teo and his workers at the farm is, very clear. It's a great, balanced cup and would beat the heck out of any JBM in blind cupping, I betcha! It's a really beautiful, balanced tenor-toned cup. The dry fragrance has an overt caramelly note, softly sweet. Adding hot water, there are ample chocolate tones, layers of milk chocolate and hints of pleasant cocoa bittersweetness. A bit of apple and warming spice emerge too. Light roasts have a lemony brightness, but anything City+ to Full City is all about body and milk chocolate. Caramel, toffee-apple, and root beer come out as the cup cools. It's not as acidic as other Guatemala coffees, especially from Huehuetenango and those areas, but it's a very nicely balanced "crowd-pleaser" flavor profile. It also seems to be sweeter with a little more roast. Usually I am recommending City roast for the best delicate notes, but I feel La Bella JBM shines at a slightly darker level.



This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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Coffee trees with ripe and unripe fruit, Finca La Bella.
Country: Guatemala
Grade: SHB
Region: Sierra de las Minas, El Progreso
Mark: La Bella Estate, Xilate S.A.
Processing: Wet-Process
Crop: Late July 2010 Arrival, GrainPro
Appearance: .0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen
Varietal: JBM - Jamaica Blue Mountain Typica
Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity/ Classic balanced Guatemala coffee
Roast: City+ to Full City is recommended here. Full City has nice milk chocolate roast notes as well.
Compare to: Excellent versatile Guatemala with restrained, balanced cup character,and fine bittersweet chocolate flavors, nice body.
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Guatemala Fraijanes - Finca Agua Tibia
$5.35$10.17$23.27$44.41$82.39
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Finca Agua Tibia is a 150 year old farm located quite near Guatemala City in the Fraijanes region. Fraijanes was compared to the high price coffees from the region of Antigua in the past. After all, Fraijanes is about the same distance from the capital Guatemala City as Antigua, but in the opposite direction. The fact is, Fraijanes coffees have their own unique character, and some of that potential is just starting to be realized. Finca Agua Tibia (it literally means Farm of Lukewarm Water - sounds better in Spanish, eh?) is located at 5000 feet altitude, and the majority of the coffee land is planted in old growth Bourbon and Typica cultivar. It is a diverse farm, with a dairy, and ornamental plant nursery, and in fact 75% of the land is set aside as nature preserve. The fact they focus on other activities has aided the coffee quality in this case: they didn't tear out old trees and replant. They kept with traditional cultivars, and have the farm planted in giant, old-growth Typica and Bourbon types with less plants-per-hectare than other farms. It's an amazing place (if you see my Guatemala travelogues, I have many photos from the farm). I have cupped this coffee for years, and always had respect for it's fine balance; it struck me as a perfect exemplar of the Guatemalan cup profile. And in fact it seemed to be a more interesting cup, and have greater flavor attributes, than most Antiguas I had cupped. It's a consistently solid and reliable coffee, and it is always the first really good high grown coffee to arrive from the new crop. At a relatively light City+ roast, where some rough surface texture still exists on the bean, this cups out like a darker roast with chocolate bittersweets. I like that, because at this roast level it still has a very lively and bright cup too, things I value highly in a good high grown coffee. Dry fragrance has clean, sweet apple-like fruit, spice and chocolate, as does the wet aromatics. The cup has malic acidity; moderate sweetness and rounded mouthfeel, maple syrup at City+ roast and with a tangy chocolate finish at FC roast. There are spicy notes in the cup: slight clove, and mulling spice. Along with the apple hint, this makes for a real "hot apple cider" effect, passing through into the long aftertaste. The body is moderate but has a balanced, rounded effect, a characteristic found in many Bourbon cultivar coffees, though most of the old parts of the farm are Typica varietal, or so it seemed on my last visit. We made some excellent SO espresso shots from Agua Tibia at a FC roast level.





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Luis Roberto, who mills the Agua Tibia coffee, stands in front of towering old trees of Typica and Bourbon type.
Country: Guatemala
Grade: SHB
Region: Fraijanes
Mark: Agua Tibia Farm, Luis Roberto, Manager.
Processing: Wet-Process
Crop: Late April 2010 Arrival
Appearance: .2 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen
Varietal: Bourbon, Typica (Old-Growth)
Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity/ Classic bittersweet character with nuance.
Roast: Full City is recommended, although I find the C+ roast to have very , tangy bittersweetness too.
Compare to: Excellent versatile Guatemala with restrained, balanced cup character,and fine bittersweet chocolate flavors. Great drinkin' coffee.
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Archived Reviews

To view reviews for out of stock coffees, visit our Guatemala Coffee Archives.


Central America: Costa Rica | Guatemala | Honduras | Mexico | Nicaragua | Panama | El Salvador
South America: Bolivia | Brazil | Colombia | Ecuador | Peru
Africa/Arabia: Burundi | Congo | Ethiopia | Kenya | Rwanda | Tanzania | Uganda | Zambia | Zimbabwe | Yemen
Indonesia/Asia: Bali | Flores | India | Java | Papua New Guinea | Sumatra | Sulawesi | Timor
Islands/Blends/Others: Australia | Hawaii | Puerto Rico | Jamaica | Dominican | Chicory | Sweet Maria's Blends
Decafs: Water Process, Natural Decafs, MC Decafs, C0-2 Decafs Robustas: India Archives: 2008-2009 | 2007
2005-2006 | 2004 -2003 | 2001-2002 | Pre-2000
Tom's Sample Cupping Log | Moisture Content Readings

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