*Out of stock until Central America crop arrives Spring/Summer 2026.
An all Central American blend that brings syrupy body and balanced, bittersweet flavors to middle/dark roasts. Flavors of high % cacao bar, dark chocolate truffles, molasses, toasted almond, and shaved lemon peel. Full City to Full City+. Good for espresso.
*Out of stock until Central America crop arrives Spring/Summer 2026.
While blended with espresso in mind, Altiplano works great around City+ too, balanced sweetness in the brew, and pleasantly moderate acidity that brings some complexity and dimension to the profile. Full City/FC+ roasts are chocolatey through and through, the dry fragrance marked by smells of cocoa powder and a hint of dried date, the wet aroma more of a dark chocolate and molasses smell that's incredibly potent. As espresso, Full City shots have a dark, syrupy aspect underneath that comes off like a dark chocolate sundae topping, a flavor that really hangs around in the aftertaste. It also has a tangy aspect that fits in like shaved lemon peel on the rim of your demitasse (so '90's!). What I think you'll mostly find here are shots gushing with syrupy, thick chocolate bittersweetness with a touch of roasted nut on the nose; high % cacao-chocolate bar, dark chocolate truffle, and roasted almond, etc. I'm particularly fond of shorter espresso shots myself, my favorite results using an 18 gram basket, yielding around 20-25 grams of espresso over the course of roughly 25 seconds. The shots have such a creamy mouthfeel, allowing the rich chocolatey flavors to linger on your tongue. The flavors are incredibly intense, as if shouting all at once, finding space and identity in the middle and finish. The aftertaste is long and contemplative, and flavor notes hint at praline almond, chipotle dark chocolate, baking cocoa, and so much more.
The coffees of Central America are go-to ingredients for us when we want to bring body and sweetness to an espresso blend. So it stands to reason that blending all Central American coffees would only enhance those aspects even more, right? After tasting this trio all blended together, the answer is a resounding "yes". "Altiplano" is the word we are using for high plains, not to be confused with THE Altiplano in South America. From the Cordillera Central in Costa Rica, to the Los Cuchumatanes in Guatemala, to the Los Arados mountains in Nicaragua, we bring in a wide variety of coffees with unique cup profile, and that all work extremely well as espresso. Blended together, the resulting cup or espresso has balance, and with an acidity that is controlled by roast development. This blend was built with espresso in mind, and includes all wet-process coffees that offer balanced flavors, body, and at least one has moderate acidity too. Roasting to City+ will have the highest tones in the cup, though we prefer at least Full City in our espresso machine. Full City/Full City+ will produce a more "classic" espresso profile with chocolate roast pungency, deep sweetness, and a fruited acidity that to me has an orange zest-like quality (though the cup is far from "fruity"). Altiplano is seasonal blend, and we'll be rotating new coffees in as they become available, updating the review when necessary.
| Region | Central America |
|---|---|
| Processing | Wet Process (Washed) |
| Drying Method | Raised Bed Sun-dried |
| Arrival date | All current-new crop |
| Packaging | GrainPro liner |
| Farm Gate | Yes |
| Cultivar Detail | Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra, Typica |
| Grade | SHB |
| Appearance | .4 d/300gr, 15-17 screen |
| Roast Recommendations | Full City - Full City+ for balanced roast flavors, and subtle top notes |
| Type | Sweet Maria's Blends |
| Recommended for Espresso | Yes |