Description
There are plenty of obstacles to cultivating and exporting coffee from the department of Huehuetenango. The terrain is rugged, and the weather is extreme. But coffee grows well here, and more than 450 families with farms that average just a few acres in size work together through a cooperative called the Association of Special Coffee Producers of Huehuetenango (ASOPCE) to overcome the obstacles.
Each family uses their own micro-mill to process their harvest, which allows for meticulous care in cherry selection, depulping, fermenting, and drying the coffee. ASOPCE has a centralized warehouse to store dried parchment until it is time to move the coffee across the country along rough roads to Guatemala City where the coffee is prepared for export. Through ASOPCE, producers have gained access to technical assistance for managing their farms with the best agricultural practices. Using materials like coffee pulp to make organic fertilizers has helped reduce the transportation costs associated with purchasing fertilizer from afar, and at the same time, creates an abundant source of fertilizer that ensures better yields and quality. ASOPCE partners with an export company called BICAFE, which has a dry-mill facility powered by 250 solar panels.
Tasting Notes:
Smooth, rich, delicate and clean, a wonderful example of a top notch Guatemalan. The aroma has great sweet notes. Hazel and hickory nuts, caramel, and milk chocolate. The body is light/medium and has a very silky texture on the malty side. The aroma comes through in the taste to create a wonderful balance of tones. Medium to low acidity, the brightness reduces the darker you roast. The finish is very smooth and clean with a lingering sweetness.
Roasting Notes:
Even roasting with medium chaff levels. Great from light to dark roasts, an easy roasting, very tasty cup of coffee. Lighter roast will have more winy acidity but adds some soft fruit to the cup, before 2nd crack roasts will be smooth and delicate, dark roasts will be strong and semi-sweet with added smoky tones.
John Mitchell –
I was really looking forward to this, especially since it was a freebie. I roasted it to a medium roast on a FR 800 using a Razzo extension tube. I hit FC at 7:55 and 410. I hit cool at 9:21 and 433. Had a 14.65% loss. Had a nice smell after roasting and 5 days later had a really good smell. However, after brewing, it was very very bland, almost no coffee taste at all. It did get slightly better after it cooled a bit, but, this is not a coffee I would buy. I use a Chemex pour over but only 66 grams of beans, so that I get the same amount for all three brews of the 1/2 pound. Had I bought more of it, I definitely would have tried dropping sooner, say mid FC, and then darker, say at the start of 2C. But it was free with my 40 lb purchase, so, not able to try.
mfcmarthaclark (verified owner) –
I was very pleased with this bean. Roasted it in my corn popper 25-30 seconds into the second crack and then let it de-gas in an open glass container for a minimum of 12 hours. Loved the robust nutty and chocolate tones this roast produced. Ordering more soon.