Artisan Roast: Guatemala, Santa Clara, Washed

The city of Antigua in Guatemala is one of the most stunning coffee growing regions in world to visit, and the coffee has built an enviable reputation for excellent quality over many many years. The city itself is steeped in the history of the old Central American colonial capital and still retains a unique mix of Spanish and Mayan culture. If you look up from the criss-cross of cobbled streets Antigua’s unique geography that defines the coffee from the micro-region is inescapable. Three vast volcanoes, Fuego, Agua, and Acetenango form a ring around the region and their shelter provides a cool and dry micro-climate perfect for coffee growing. The edge of the city merges seamlessly with the surrounding coffee farms which rise up onto the lower slopes of the volcanoes to heights of around 1900m above sea level.

Santa Clara, sitting to the east of the city with a view over to the volcanoes Fuego and Acetanango, is one of these farms that melds with the city. All the coffee grows under lush shade trees helping protect the plants from both the heat of the Latin sun, and the crisp Antigua winter nights. Quality thrives in this environment and the farm has won many awards, placing in the Guatemala Cup of Excellence several times.

When roasted a little fuller, Antigua coffees are renowned for their rich chocolate aromatics and creamy, dense mouthfeel. We’ve taken this approach with Santa Clara and a rich dark chocolate note runs through the flavour profile from beginning to end. Look for front end aromas of rich molasses and amaretto, leading through to a sweet forest fruit finish. The supporting orange citrus and red grape like acidity adds structure but has been muted with the roast, and the mouth feel is big, dense and creamy.

A tip for brewing this coffee for most enjoyment is to let the water temperature come off the boil to around 90 - 92 degrees centigrade. Brewing at this lower temperature with a french press (and even lower with an aeropress) helps the luxurious chocolate aromas and supporting sweet molasses flavours come to the fore. In a filter look for more of the caramel aromatics, along with the red fruit notes and cedarwood smoke from the developed roast.