The Coffees of Guatemala

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Central America: Guatemala

Current Crop Comments:

New crop lots are here. Our mid-harvest coffees, San Jose Ocaña, has arrived in excellent form. We also have a new Maragogype cultivar coffee with a very unusual cup this year. El Injerto Pacamara is in (we will have the incredible auction lot of the same coffee too, big bucks) and Quetzal Azul from Huehuetenango. Guatemala has such a range of regions, it is hard to talk in good year/bad year terms. There are too many micro regions, and a weather problem in one is inconsequential in another. That said, I demand a lot from Guatemalan coffees and am always asking myself \"is there something better out there?\" That question might be answered this year with the grand re-opening of the Guatemala Cup of Excellence after a 4 year hiatus. I will cup them all, and will be in there for the bidding, although I suspect prices are going to soar.

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.

Guatemala Antigua Los Pastores Peaberry
Country:	Guatemala	Grade:	SHB	Region:	Antigua, Sacatepequez Department	Mark:	Pastores Mill, Eduardo Roesch, Manager
Processing:	Wet-Process	Crop:	Sept 2008 Arrival	Appearance:	0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen	Varietal:	Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai
Notes:Los Pastores is a mill located just outside the old part of Antigua, Guatemala … the historic old capital before it was moved to Guatemala City. The mill itself is historic, a converted four mill, made of wood and sheet metal with a lifetime of quirky wooden patches, repairs, modifications. It seems appropriate, because they prepare coffee here in a very traditional way, by hand. They do not use modern electronic sorting; they have 40 or 60 or 80 (depending on the season) people who sit at special desks and sort green coffee bean by bean in preparation for export. This is rare too, because when many mills sort, they do so on a continuously moving or intermittent conveyor. At Pastores, the sorters study coffee, and while it is not as quiet as a library (they gossip a lot), it certainly looks like a repository of tomes, or perhaps a big schoolroom. I spent time there on a couple of trips recently, and it was amazing to see the difference between night and day. At night, the harvest from the day's picking is being recieved, the pulpers are thumping away, and the smell of coffee fruit is ripe in the air, but inside the mill is a ghost town. In the morning, a few men are cleaning outside and raking coffee on the patios, while the sorting room is abuzz with activity as 50 or more women expertly remove defect beans at their "desks" while they gossip with those around them! Anyway, Los Pastores buys ripe cherry from local farms, many with whom they have long relations, but this is not farm specific coffee. I have seen them receive their cherry, and the quality (ripeness) is outstanding. They use old style depulpers and fermentation tanks, and wash the coffee in long channels as people have done for years and years. All this effort results in classic, sweet, clean Antigua coffee. I was really impressed with this lot. The dry fragrance has toasted grain and nut sweetness, honey and almond. There are hints of sweet, mild, yellow fruits in the aromatics and the cup flavors. I get a bit of white grape, as well as starfruit and pear. It's not a powerhouse of intensity, but has finely layered flavors that become better enunciated as the cup cools.				Receiving the daily coffee pickings at Beneficio Los Pastores, from my trip last February during harvest time.

Intensity/Prime Attribute:Mild intensity/ Sweet and delicate Antigua cup profile
Roast:City+ is ideal here.
Compare to: Classic, sweet, clean Guatemala

Guatemala Antigua Los Pastores Peaberry

$5.50

$10.45

$23.93

$45.65

$84.70

Guatemala Cup of Excellence #1 -El Injerto
Country:	Guatemala	Grade:	SHB	Region:	La Libertad, Huehuetenango	Mark:	#1 Coffee, Cup of Excellence, Finca El Injerto
Processing:	Wet-Processed	Crop:	Nov 2008 Arrival (Vac Pack)	Appearance:	0 d/300gr, 18-20 Screen	Varietal:	100% Pacamara Cultivar (Large Bean)
Notes:Things got a little crazy at the auction for the top lot of coffee at the 2008 Guatemala Cup of Excellence. Sweet Maria's was in a buying group with the main bidder, Stumptown, and Maruyama Coffee from Japan. We had to get this coffee. But there was a powerful and unrelenting bidder out there, somewhere, someone with very deep pockets. That's where the craziness came in. And don't be shocked when I tell you it was Target. Yes ... THAT Target. Via a large roaster called CBI, Target wanted to make a statement and crash the party, get a lot of press, pay a lot of money, buy a coffee that (in my opinion) was the best Cup of Excellence lot of the season. We didn't know it then, but afterwards our group felt vindicated; we prevented the big guys from pillaging a treasured lot of coffee that each of us has bought for years and years. It was the highest CoE price of the year. Was it worth it (beyond vindication, beyond having a story to tell)? Well, when I cup this coffee I say, unequivocally, YES! This lot was prepared only from the large-bean Pacamara cultivar planted at the well-known farm El Injerto. This is a farm I visited from way back around 8 years ago, and that Stumptown has shared with us this year. Most of the coffee is planted between 1500 and 2000 meters, on a farm that dedicates a huge portion of its total land to an uncut old-growth forest. Pacamara means Pacas X Maragogype, the later being the large bean mutation that occurred spontaneously in Brazil 80 years ago. Pacas is a Bourbon hybrid that came from El Salvador in the '50s. Pacamara can be a little hard to roast due to the large bean size. I also note that this coffee passes from City+ to FC+ quickly, and with a proper rest time (72+ hours) the lighter roasts can be the best. The dry fragrance at C+ is complex, floral (violet), with layers of fruit (Rambutan, Lychee). The wet aromatics have tea, root beer and mulling spice suggestions, with some lingering fruited citrus. In the cup, the aromatic clues are realized in apple cider notes, spice (cinnamon, black pepper), sarsaparilla and a dark brown sugar sweetness that remains well into the aftertaste. As it cools there is a touch of dry black currant, mint and fig. The Injerto Pacamara is unique in the way it relates to other Pacamaras from El Salvador or Nicaragua. It's clean, sweetly fruited, spicy. Pacamaras grown at lower altitudes can be more herbaceous, oniony (salad onion or scallions usually) and a bit more muddled in the flavors ... less articulate. At FC roast the body is really velvety, with creamy chocolate truffle flavors, but the cup is less dynamic. The City and City+ roasts have a wrinkled bean appearance, not as pretty as FC or FC+, but with proper rest I think the cup is fantastic.				The stream at El Injerto, from a trip t

Intensity/Prime Attribute:Medium intensity / Balanced and Complex; layered fruit, floral, spice.
Roast:City - City+ is preferred, the most dynamic cup. I like the smooth chocolate truffle at FC+, but the floral notes of the City+ roast are diminished greatly. This is a little difficult to roast. It's a large bean (cut back on the quantity a bit in an air roaster) and passes from 1st to 2nd crack quickly. Attend to the roaster!
Compare to: Unique Pacamara cup, cleaner and more floral than standard Pacamara coffees. This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

Guatemala Cup of Excellence #1 -El Injerto (1/2 pound) (farm gate)

$46.00

Limit 1/2 pound

Guatemala Finca San José Ocaña
Country:	Guatemala	Grade:	SHB	Region:	San Juan Sacatepéquez, Chimaltenango, Guatemala	Mark:	Estate: San Jose Ocana
Processing:	Wet-Processed	Crop:	Late, Late June 2008 Arrival	Appearance:	0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen	Varietal:	Bourbon, some Catuai
Notes:This has been a favorite coffee at Sweet Maria's for several years now, and will be in the future. Even before we had a relationship with the farm, I had been trying to buy this lot for years, and it's one of my favorite Guatemala coffees, ever. The farm is from an original land grant of 1623, and the owners have now grown coffee here for 5 generations. It's a very Bourbon-like, high altitude coffee, and has an unusual roast dynamic. And as a confirmation of the great cup quality (not that it is needed here but ...) this farm won #2 spot in the 2007 Guatemala Cup of Excellence. (They didn't have any excess coffee to enter a lot in 2008). You can literaly see what a dense, high-grown coffee it is as you roast it: small, dense little seeds that almost seem to shrink like raisins, the creases deepending and darkening, before it reaches Full City roast. That comapct form, tight crease, and resistence to expansion hints at Bourbon cultivar (there is some Catuai in the mix), and slow, steady maturation on the tree. That's what happens when you grow coffee way up at 1900 meters. I found this coffee has a very wide range of roasts that have great results, from a light City roast through Full City +. It's a very high-grown, dense seed (I think Bourbon cultivar also has greater denisity than other types, which greatly improve the way the coffee absorbs and distributes heat in the roast chamber). The lighter roasts have a punctuated fruitiness to them, bright tannic grape, floral aromatics, and sweet malt syrup roast taste. I really enjoyed watching this coffee take on a bit more color, passing into the Full City range, but not into 2nd crack at all. Here there is a unique balance between chocolate, toffee and raisin sweetness, with clove spice hints, concord grape, berry, and a floral flavor (I know, we don't eat/drink flowers for the most part, but the finish has a strong floral, almost rose-like aspect to it, like a potpourri). Anyway, as a cupper, this coffee exudes immense cup quality, as a roaster you can see that dense, tight-fisted little bean take on heat and color just beautifully, and as a guy who just likes a great cup of coffee, this is one I take home on the weekend.				The drying patio at San Jose Ocana, taking the dried parchment coffee off for bagging.

Intensity/Prime Attribute:Medium-to-bold intensity / Excellent aromatics, sweetness, complexity, structure.
Roast:City - City + to FC+ The coffee works at all roast levels, but with proper rest the complexity is at it's acme a bit lighter. At this lighter level, the coffee won't look as pretty as it does at FC+, more surface texture and patchy coloration. City roast (even lighter) is more fruity, but the body is a little lacking.
Compare to: Classsic super-high grown Guatemala. It reminds me of the Finca El Injerto pure Bourbon. This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing tranparency program.

Guatemala Finca San José Ocaña (farm gate)

$5.70

$10.83

$24.80

$47.31

$87.78

Guatemala Huehuetenango "Quetzal Azul"
Country:	Guatemala	Grade:	SHB	Region:	Huehuetenango	Mark:	"Quetzal Azul", YCafe
Processing:	Wet-Processed	Crop:	August 2008 Arrival	Appearance:	0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen	Varietal:	Bourbon, some Catuai
Notes:This is a lot put together by a cupper in Guatemala, Roberto Stahl, of excellent SHB (strictly hard bean) Huehuetenango coffees. Quetzal Azul is a brand, referring to the national bird of Guatemala. The bad part of buying a coffee like this is I don't have access to good information about the farms that contributed to the lot, cultivar, altitude etc. In a way, Buying a coffee like this is anathema to what we do at Sweet Maria's. We want to trace great coffee to the farm, and develop transparent relations (we are calling it Farm Gate Coffee now, our form of direct trade, but we have always been doing it). But the fact is, I can't pass on a great cup! And Quetzal Azul is that. The dry fragrance is sweet and balanced between roast notes and slight floral qualities: it's like a toned-down San Jose Ocana. You can tell they are similar in other ways, despite being from different regions. They both have alot of Bourbon coffee, and they are both very high-grown and dense. The small rounded beans resist expansion in the roaster, staying tightly shut and well-formed through 1st crack. There is a floral dimension to this cup that elevates it above other Guatemala coffees. You can trace it from the dry fragrance through the wet aromatics, and into the cup flavors and aftertaste. In addition to floral fragrance, there is also a dark sweet berry, and brown sugar sweetness. The cup has all the above mentioned qualities, and a nice bittersweet chocolate finish that adds dimension to the cup. As it cools, there is a syrupy sweetness that emerges, and a touch of stone fruits (plum, nectarine). This is a coffee that you would call "well structured" in it's flavor profile.
Intensity/Prime Attribute:Medium-to-bold intensity / Floral and Berry sweetness, balance
Roast:City - Full City +: The coffee works at all roast levels, but with proper rest the complexity is at it's acme a bit lighter.
Compare to: Classic super-high grown Guatemala, akin to the excellent San Jose Ocana, La Maravilla and El Injerto Bourbon lots.

Guatemala Huehuetenango "Quetzal Azul"

$5.10

$9.69

$22.19

$42.33

$78.54

Guatemala Organic Finca Ceylan Maragogype
Country:	Guatemala	Grade:	SHB	Region:	San Miguel Pochuta, Chimaltenango state, Atitlán District	Mark:	Finca Ceylan, Dariush Echeverria Zachrisson
Processing:	Wet-Process	Crop:	June 2008 Arrival	Appearance:	.4 d/300gr, 20+ Screen	Varietal:	100% Maragogype (Maragogipe)
Notes:What other farm in Central America has the range of altitude to grow both robusta on the lowest plots to fine arabicas and Maragogype (the large "elephant bean") at the highest elevations. Finca Ceylan ranges from 3500 feet to more than 4500 feet (1350 meters). The farm has been in the Echeverria family since 1870, and has organic certification for years now. Aside from having a forest reserve, they have a diverse harvest in addition to coffee: cardamom, macadamia nuts, platano‚ banana. They grew and processed sugar cane to make Panela for years, but the sugar mill was ruined in sever rains some years back. The farm maintains the river basins and the natural vegetation that grows nearby. The coffee residues from the wet mill are used as an organic fertilizer in the coffee plantation, creating a self-sufficient system. The water used in the wet mill process is filtered through oxidation tanks to avoid contamination in river basins. The farm has a natural forest which has been protected to conserve the different species of trees, plants and animals to protect the ecosystem. This is such an unusual cup, and cultivar is a major contributor to the interesting cup character here. Of course, the huge beans have a different roast dynamic too, absorbing heat in the roast chamber slower, perhaps due to a lower physical density of the seed. The cup has a kind of softness to it, but Finca Ceylan grows Maragos at higher altitude than other places, and you can see this in the bright notes in this cup. The fragrance is marked by a smokey kind of sweetness, aromatic wood tones, sweet cedar. These are echoed in the wet aromatics, with the addition of attractive herbal / floral / sage blossom smells. It really opens up. The cup flavors are exotic, with hints of hickory smoke, sweet tobacco, savory spice, and even just the tiniest bit of barbeque sauce! Perhaps you need to contrast this cup with another Guatemalan coffee, perhaps one of the classic Bourbon cultivar coffees we offer, to appreciate how different it truly is. There are spicy hints a bit of vanilla bean, and big, soft body. But those who buy giant "elephant bean" coffee aren't looking for the ordinary!
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 Guatemalan cup character, with balance, and fine bittersweet chocolate flavors, apple note.

Guatemala Organic Finca Ceylan Maragogype

$5.90

$11.21

$25.67

$48.97

$90.86

Guatemala Oriente Dry-Process
Country:	Guatemala	Grade:	SHB	Region:	Oriente	Mark:	Y Cafe Special Prep.
Processing:	Dry-Processed	Crop:	September 2007 Arrival	Appearance:	.2 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen	Varietal:	Typica, Catuai
Notes:This is about as unusual as it gets; a full natural, sun-dried coffee from Guatemala. What does this mean? Basically, that a traditional Ethiopia dry-process was performed at a traditionally wet-process origin. The ripe coffee cherry is picked from the tree when the fruit ripens to a rich, red-crimson color. Then, instead of beginning the wet-process by depulping (removing the skin) and fermenting the cherry for 12-24 hours, this ripe coffee cherry is simply laid out on the sunny patio to dry. With all the skin and fruit of the coffee fruit intact, it dries like a raisin, the mucilage turning to a sweet, chewy, dehydrated form, encoating the green seed protected by its parchment layer. Once fully dried, it is left to rest for some days, then in one step the skin, dried fruit flesh, parchment layer and all are torn from the green seed. The result is something between an Ethiopia coffee a chocolate-covered fruit bomb. I evaluated this on a table of dry-process Yemen and Ethiopian coffees and the dry-fragrance alone dominated not just the table, but the entire room. If you love this flavor profile, this level of intensity will please you greatly ... and if you dislike this type of coffee, it will drive you insane. It starts with the overwhelming power of the dry fragrance, with intense dark chocolate rounded out by fruity/red wine/balsamic vinegar scents. The wet aromatics follow suit, with the addition of strong melon and papaya notes ... these come through directly in the cup flavors. The potent chocolate flavors at FC to FC+ roast are so strong ... I don't think those who like milk chocolate are going to go for this flavor. It's for people who can down a 75% cacao dark chocolate bar with no problem, and the aftertaste has that fat, waxy bitter-to-bittersweet effect of a potent chocolate bar too. Other flavors are tobacco, hints of cedar, dry black fig, black licorice and a whiff of smoke. This coffee is all bass note, and has very, very low acidity. If you have found aged Sumatra coffees to your liking, or if you were adventurous enough to try India Anohki Liberica, you will be very happy with this cup! And those who like dry-process Ethiopians and Yemens should be pleased too. Just don't expect anything like your typical Guatemala in the cup!
Intensity/Prime Attribute:Medium intensity / Heavy body, fruited notes,
Roast:Full City+ has best cup for the full-body-plus-chocolate character, whereas City+ features the fruited notes.
Compare to: Fairly incomparable - similar to the pulp natural Centrals of the more rustic type. This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

Guatemala Oriente Dry-Process (farm gate)

$5.60

$10.64

$24.36

$46.48

$86.24

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