Description
Try three lots from our two favorite farms in Guatemala!
A pound each of:
Guatemalan Premium Fraijanes – Finca De Dios – Washed Processed
Finca De Dios is really catching steam as one of the more premier Guatemalan coffee farms. The coffee keeps getting better and better each year.
Similar to Edwins farm, De Dios is a model of sustainability and treats its workers better than 99% of other farms in the region; providing education, infrastructure and medical care.
Almost forty years ago, a horse lover bought the farm with the intent of lodging his horses. A few years later, he was transferred because of work reasons. His daughter; Ellen Prentice, who remained in Guatemala, was left in charge of the farm. She started to tend the few hectares of coffee that the farm had and planted most of the farm with coffee, with the exception of the natural forests.
Six years ago, after inheriting her piece of the original farm, she proceeded to name it Finca de Dios, in memory of her father who had dedicated his land to God. Since then they have been building the necessary infrastructure, which her part did not have, including a wet mill. Even though small in comparison to most of the big coffee farms, we agree with the saying that says that some of the best things in life come in small packages.
They want to preserve the beauty of all of God’s creation and therefore have reserved more than one third of their land to the preservation of natural forests. In this way, they hope that birds and other wildlife can find a safe haven; a place to call home.
They believe that they have been blessed so that they can be a blessing to others. They strive to treat their workers with dignity and love so that they can work in an atmosphere of respect and peace. They try to accommodate workers with special needs to jobs they can best handle. They also try to teach those who work with them values and principles; especially the importance of working with excellence so that their clients can enjoy drinking an exceptional cup of coffee.
Tasting Notes:
A great clean micro lot from our friends at Finca De Dios. Awesome prep, one can tell a lot of care went into these beans. A great medium to as “dark as you want to go” bean type. Light roasts produce a lot of floral brightness and light fruit notes (almost reminiscent of a nice Costa) mixing with a subtle yet very sweet malty chocolaty note (can be a little more challenging to roast to a light roast) a great morning brew – darker roasts will produce more body similar to the Huehues – very clean non-roasty dark-roast beans – you get a lot of the sweet malty tones and very smooth even into 2nd crack – a very stand up bean at almost any roast level.
Roasting Notes:
Lighter roasts accent the fruitier brightness, deeper levels deliver smooth, rich chocolate malty flavors and a hint of smokiness – awesome and clean dark roast notes. Coffee will roast a little two-toned containing a couple different strains, if shooting for the lighter roasts slowing it down a bit will be helpful.
Guatemalan Premium Huehuetenango – Finca Vista Hermosa
We have been friends with the award winning Finca Vista Hermosa almost as long as we have been working in coffee. The background of the farm, the meticulous growing and processing practices, the empowerment of the workers (and their neighbors) is all top notch. The farm has been in the family for three generations and is one of the few that survived the Guatemalan revolution, not by luck, but because of how they treated their workers and the respect they have gained in the Mayan community. The largest perk to working with them, the taste and quality of the product.
Tasting Notes: A tasty mix of tones, great from light to dark. The cup profile is mostly down the malty side but these beans have some awesome jazz.
Medium roasting really pulls together a tasty treat but you can take it lighter or darker depending on personal taste preference.
Hints of floral mixing with smooth nutty & malty features. Will show some winy citric and fruit acidity in the light to medium roast spectrum but all in all a medium to low acidity brew with a medium body.
Smooth, clean and sweet edged, a cup we are more than willing to drink all day. Guatemalans almost always hold dark roasts nicely for adding a little sweet malty note to the smoky and roasty tones is a tasty mix.
Roasting Notes: Easy to roast, being a hand crafted lot by Edwin himself, you can see a little variance in color but it is small, putting this in the easy to roast category. Medium to low chaff. If you do not have a personal roast level preference, try it first at a nice medium roast.
You can read about Finca Vista Hermosa and view more pictures here: Our Trip to Guatemala
FVH is a model farm. Edwin Jr. (third generation) is renowned for his consultant work on the ground in Huehuetenango. If a new farm works with him for a couple of years, its bound to be seen on the COE winning list. Okay maybe I am talking him up a bit too much but over the 15+ years we have been working with him, we have seen it spawn so many award winning coffees and operations including another one of our favorites, Finca De Dios. All of this
success is modeled after his own farm, FVH.
Edwin’s farm has won the cup of excellence in previous years and also has been used by Anacafe for the perfect example of what a Huehue. can be.
The original Mayan managed farm and one of the few farms to survive the Guatemalan Revolution. Although this is a farm, if you ever went there – it is more of a village than a traditional farm like we have here. Edwin and his family have very little to do with the actual operations of the farm, its all done by the village. The Guatemalan government really does not extend out to the rural areas so it is up to Edwin and his family to help build roads, schools, doctor clinics, give housing loans and take care of any emergency that may arise – I can attest to the fact that they do a fantastic job.
Guatemalan Premium Huehuetenango – Finca Vista Hermosa – Reserve Lot
We have been friends with the award winning Finca Vista Hermosa almost as long as we have been working in coffee. The background of the farm, the meticulous growing and processing practices, the empowerment of the workers (and their neighbors) is all top notch. The farm has been in the family for three generations and is one of the few that survived the Guatemalan revolution, not by luck, but because of how they treated their workers and the respect they have gained in the Mayan community.
Tasting Notes: A very clean and smooth cup. Lighter roasts get a very sweet and nutty tone right upfront, almost walnut like. The nuttiness fades into a more traditional malty tones with some jazzy spice the darker you roast. Higher acidity than the non-reserve, but still not sizzling. White wine like acidity comes through at light to medium roasts. Our preferred roast was a city+ roast (light-medium). Great balance between the winy/floral and malty/spice. Less neutral than FVH standard beans, higher acidity and stronger tones, but both are just as good in our minds depending on what one likes.
Roasting Notes: Easy to roast and tasty from light to dark. Lighter roasts will be a bit nutty for some but a clean enough cup to hold it well and provide a nicely balanced cup. Medium roasts are one everyone would like, smooth with a little jazz. Dark roasts are rich and malty with a sweet edge.
FVH is a model farm. Edwin Jr. (third generation) is renowned for his consultant work on the ground in Huehuetenango. If a new farm works with him for a couple of years, its bound to be seen on the COE winning list. Okay maybe I am talking him up a bit too much but over the 15+ years we have been working with him, we have seen it spawn so many award winning coffees and operations including another one of our favorites, Finca De Dios. All of this success is modeled after his own farm, FVH.
You can read about Finca Vista Hermosa and view more pictures here: Our Trip to Guatemala
Edwin’s farm has won the cup of excellence in previous years and also has been used by Anacafe for the perfect example of what a Huehue. can be.
The original Mayan managed farm and one of the few farms to survive the Guatemalan Revolution. Although this is a farm, if you ever went there – it is more of a village than a traditional farm like we have here. Edwin and his family have very little to do with the actual operations of the farm, its all done by the village. The Guatemalan government really does not extend out to the rural areas so it is up to Edwin and his family to help build roads, schools, doctor clinics, give housing loans and take care of any emergency that may arise – I tell you they do a fantastic job.
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