Guatemalan Org. San Marcos Cimarron Entre Rios

Description

New Crop! The first arrival of the season! Well it came with two other lots as well, so all three are the first! Sourced though our buddy Edwin at Finca Vista Hermosa. This is an organic aggregate lot put together by 33 small coffee holders that he works pretty closely with.

Bordering Mexico to the west and Huehuetenango to the north, San Marcos is remote— it can take 8-12 hours to reach coffee farms from Guatemala City, up and down mountain roads. It’s not only the warmest growing region in Guatemala, it’s also often the rainiest — seasonal rains come early and often, creating earlier blossoms. Along with climate conditions rich volcanic soils make for a distinct profile: San Marcos coffees often present with characteristic acidity, with consistent and well-defined body.

Around 2009, an association in San Marcos called ASOBEP was reported to Anacafe for mismanagement. Subsequently a few members assembled to found Entre Rios, with the mission to support farmer members with excellent management and increased transparency.

At first Entre Rios had 18 members, but that quickly grew to 25 and then 33 member families. The association is represented by Cipriano, a genial and hardworking producer who also works hard to represent the other families of Entre Rios, in addition to being on the board of Anacafe.

Entre Rios produces a total of 1060 quintales parchment annually. Coffees are dried on patios for 7-10 days, and fermented in tanks for 24-36 hours. Individual smallholder farms grow primarily Bourbon, but also a mix of sustainable varieties encouraged by Anacafe, which produce very well in this climate: Anacafe 14, Sarchimor, and Catimor. Lots are shaded by avocado, banana, Chalum and Tepemiste trees.

Tasting Notes: A very cool, more wild Guatemalan cup, shines from a medium to dark roast.  Medium roasts were very drinkable with more gentle acidity, brought forth more of that classic slight winy floral with a semi-sweet chocolate dark tone, will be right down your alley if you’re a classic Guatemalan fan. A decently stronger cup than the Finca Esperanza offerings. Held up very nicely dark roasted, the smoky tones complimenting the big hefty baker’s chocolate factor.  Lighter roasting shows decent acidity and floral tones, mixing with an herbal nutty/malty contrast. Much of the crew here thought it jumped right out as pretty exotic but would be hard to drink all day.

Roasting Notes: Easy to roast but avoid lighter roasting unless looking for something a bit exotic and higher acidity. Medium to dark will produce a cup most everyone will love.