Coffee of the Month - Guatemala Antigua
About the Coffee:
June's Coffee of the Month is our Guatemala Antigua. Perfectly balanced with sweet caramel and exotic fruit, finishing with a subtle citrus like acidity and a hint of hazelnut. The aroma of the coffee is sweet and the body smooth. It makes for a really pleasant drink however it is brewed and our most recently lot was cupped at 83.
The El Pensativo cooperative, from which we source our Antigua coffee, is located near the volcanoes of Acatenango and Fuego. Known collectively as La Horqueta, the volcanoes are always active but to a low level. The volcanic activity of the region creates an abundance of micronutrients in the air and soil and makes the coffee both delicious and relatively easy to grow.
El Pensativo was established in 1972 and has grown in production quantity and quality almost every year since then. With the help of another cooperative, they have been financed to upgrade the production equipment of local producers and provide experts to improve yield and final cup quality.
The collection ‘Antigua’ is made up of several local microlots which are very small scale and family run. The coffee cherries are dried on the roofs of the houses on the steep mountain side. Once it has undergone a drying process it is dispatched to the cooperative for cupping and exporting across the world.
Antigua is a famous regional coffee, you might have had a cup in a high-street chain, but not like this. The coffee that we receive is uniquely balanced and smooth. It satisfies any coffee drinker, from novice to connoisseur.
About the Region:
Guatemala is an incredibly fertile and bio-diverse land with a mix of lowland rain forest and highland pine forest. It is thought that the name Guatemala can be traced back to Maya, translating to 'land of trees'.
Guatemala covers an area of 108,889 sq km which is only slightly larger than the UK but in that space, there are 30 volcanoes running parallel to the Pacific Ocean from the border with Mexico down to the border with El Salvador. Just off of this mountain range is the growing region of Antigua. With high altitudes and a sweltering climate, coffee is a very successful crop here for farmers.
Description:
- Flavours - Caramel, Exotic Fruit, Hazelnut
- Aroma - Sweet Milk Chocolate
- Body - Smooth
- Acidity - Citric
Roast Profiles:
Medium: Exotic fruit flavours with a citric acidity and a hint of caramel in the background. This roast works really well as a filter.
Medium-Dark: A pleasant aroma of sweet chocolate leads into a sweet caramel flavour with a more muted acidity and a hint of exotic fruit to finish. Great roast for a cafetiere or more fruity acidic espresso.
Dark: A very smooth coffee packed full of hazelnut and an underlying caramel sweetness. This roast profile is great as an espresso and is levelled off with a hint of exotic fruit in the background.
Location and Process:
- Origin: Guatemala
- Region: Antigua
- Farm: Members of Cooperativa El Pensativo
- Altitude: 1,550- 2000 metres above sea level
- Variety: Bourbon, Typica, Catuai, Caturra
- Processing: Fully washed & Sun dried
Shop our Guatemala Antigua here
