Climpson & Sons: Guatemala, Finca La Cumbre, Washed

The beginning of summer marks the return of many of our favourite coffees with fresh Central Americans arriving. Often featured in our Broadway Blend, this is the fourth consecutive season we have bought all we can from Finca La Cumbre. With 2019 already looking to be a vintage year for Guatemalan quality it was obviously time to offer this Huehuetenango classic as a stand alone filter roast. Dark berries and dense sweetness makes this the perfect match for larger immersion or batch brews.

Finca La Cumbre is overseen by producer Juan Bernardo, now into his 9th season of coffee production in the micro-region of Petatan, Huehuetenango. Nearing the border with Mexico, the area of Huehuetenango offers some of the most unique Guatemalan cup profiles. The higher altitude brings cooler evening climates which affects a slower maturation of coffee cherries. This weather also extends the required drying time for processed coffee which is now seen as a positive for allowing complex flavours to develop as well as adding to the green coffees longevity.

Bizarrely, Don Bernardo has benefitted from global warming, with coffee previously not surviving the frosts that would fall over these hillsides. With temperatures rising La Cumbre was planted on almost virgin soils and also hosts a small nursery to tailor the next generation of coffee trees to these conditions.

Whilst climate change has enabled this new production it is also clearly bringing a new set of challenges. Most intimidating is the swift spread of leaf rust through much of Central America. Leaf rust (roya) is a fungus that attacks the leaves of the tree, leaving the plant with no energy to produce coffee cherries and diminishing quality. Working with a local agronomist Juan Bernardo is aiming to stay a step ahead with regular pruning and diverse planting.