Guatemalan Premium Huehuetenango – Finca Aguas Altas

Description

New Crop! The Mendez family produces some fantastic offerings. Good buddies with Edwin from FVH and direct neighbors to him, we have loved some of the other family members coffee before in previous crops but this is our first lot direct from Gabino Mendez, who owns and operated Finca Aguas Altas.

The Mendez family works an entire mountainside  in remote Northwest Huehuetenango. While working in coffee alongside family members is not rare in Guatemala, the depth of collaboration and transparency with which they partner is remarkable. Year after year, they share successes and misses, working together to make each other’s lots thrive. They operate like a co-op, each member making their contributions.

Of the three, Gabino is focused most on quality improvements, so he travels to Guatemala City to take courses at Anacafe, learning about innovations in varieties and processing. Recently, he implemented his learning by lengthening the washing channels on their central wet mill to improve processing, and this year’s crop showcases brighter, crisper profiles as a result. Another example is shade: Gabino utilizes mostly Chalum shade, as Gravilea trees make the soil more acidic. Chalum leaves biodegrade four times faster than Gravilea leaves, and he and his sons are monitoring the longer-term soil impacts as a result. Francisco Florencio supports his uncles with the water from his ground springs, and Gilberto makes structural improvements around the farm. Gabino’s sons have also studied soil science, and support with soil analysis and fertilizer on each lot. The result is that each lot improves significantly and all family members benefit.

Tasting Notes: A great cup of Guatemalan coffee! Medium to low acidity with a sweet edge. Good from light to dark.

Lighter roasts show off the more winy floral acidity and aromatics that will comingle with a malty & herbal undertones, a little longer setup will help the more herbal spice blossom into more complex nutty/caramel like notes.

Medium roasts, our favorite roast point, have a nice sweet edge upfront; medium bodied, lower acidity, retains some floral aromatics but loses the crisper tones in taste. Balanced with clean and defined malty darker tones with a little spice, hints of fruitiness as the cup cools.

The beans hold a dark roast very nicely, touching 2nd crack did not introduce too much smoky or roasty tones, still sweet and much stronger,  a touch of winy floral mixing with darker chocolate and malt.

Roasting Notes: A nice medium roasts presents this cup at its best – lighter roasts give a bit more crispness but lacked darker tone balance. Medium roasts have the best balance and will make anyone happy. Dark roasts will get a bit stronger without being a roasty smoke bomb, classic & clean tasting dark roasts.