Guatemala Antigua Carmona Pulcal

Carmona Pulcal is an old coffee estate overlooking the colonial city of Antigua, and is situated at a range of 6000 feet in altitude. The farm dates to early colonial times (check out the neat tile crest in the first photo below), but coffee was planted in the late 1800's and first exported in 1918. The farm is said to have a unique micro-climate in the Antigua valley, as well as hillside exposure and well-draining soils. This is a mix of the cultivars grown on the old estate, including Typica, Bourbon, and Catuaí cultivar trees. The depulper used at Pulcal sits up above the drying patio, so that when the depulped coffee exits the machine it flows downward to the fermentation tanks below. After fermenting overnight, they flush it into long cement grading channels where ripe coffee settles to the bottom of the channel, and the underripe coffee floats on to the second quality destination. The fully washed green coffee is then transported to the Bella Vista dry mill at the edge of town, where it is dried on patios and raised beds before passing through their state of the art equipment that removes any remaining defects. To form this lot, we cupped several small "day lots" (coffee lots that are kept separate by each delivery day), selecting those that had the best sweetness and brightness.