Guatemala New Oriental Cadiñas Winey Natural Pacas: Grades, Prices, Green Beans and Roast Levels

Guatemala Coffee Overview

Guatemala is a country of numerous volcanoes, and coffee grown in its volcanic soil yields rich, characterful specialty beans. The country's generally high altitude means coffee trees grow where day and night temperatures differ greatly. This harsh swing lets the cherries mature longer and more slowly on the tree, producing hard beans with more complete and complex flavor.

Characteristics

Rich wet aroma, good balance, high sweetness, with an elegant and ethereal mouthfeel.

Origin

This newly arrived lot comes from the Cardenas Estate, a top-tier plantation located in the New Oriente region of Guatemala.

Wine Aroma Natural Processing Flavor Profile

Pineapple, melon, dried apricot, candied lemon peel, Bordeaux wine, and green tea with cinnamon spice. Overall the cup is filled with rich sweetness and a full-bodied smoky plum aroma.

The Pacas Variety

Pacas is a natural mutation of Bourbon, much like Caturra from Brazil and Villa Sarchi from Costa Rica. Like other widely grown Bourbon mutations, Pacas is a variety formed by a single-gene mutation, which gives it a crucial advantage: the plants can be spaced more densely, ultimately raising unit yields.

Pacas was first discovered in 1949 by the Pacas family of the Santa Ana region of El Salvador. Fernando Alberto Pacas Figueroa noticed some plants with a different morphology on the family's Finca San Rafael estate and began collecting seeds and selecting for the trait. He later established about three-quarters of a hectare as a Pacas "pioneer nursery."

By 1956, Francisco de Sola and Fernando's son, Fernando Alberto Pacas Trujillo, began researching the variety with the help of Professor William Cogwill from Florida. They compared San Ramon Bourbon with an "unknown" new variety. The unknown plant showed completely different characteristics, with a morphology distinct from Bourbon, shorter internodal spacing and a larger fruiting area. In the end, they named it "Pacas."

Guatemala is a renowned high-quality Arabica producer in Central America. Coffee from its five volcanic regions and three non-volcanic regions is very distinctive and commands a strong reputation on the international market.

Brewing Method

For hand-poured Guatemala wine-aroma natural process, use 15 g of coffee ground to a medium grind (Fuji ghost-tooth grinder, setting #4), a V60 dripper and 88-89°C water. First pour 30 g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105 g and pause. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to halfway, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 225 g, avoiding the tail end. The water-to-coffee ratio is 1:15, with an extraction time of 2:00.

The New Oriente Region

Coffee in this region has been grown entirely by small farmers since the 1950s. Today nearly every farmer in the mountains works as an independent coffee production unit. Once Guatemala's most remote and poorest area, New Oriente now shows real vitality. With abundant rainfall and frequent cloud cover, it was an ancient volcanic area where the soil evolved from volcanic metamorphic rock, rich in minerals and well balanced nutritionally, unlike other volcanic coffee regions.

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Ingredients: In-house roasted
Shelf Life: 30 days
Net Weight: 227 g
Packaging: Bulk
Taste: Neutral
Coffee Bean State: Roasted
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Guatemala
Coffee Type: Other
Roast Level: Medium roast

Detailed Origin Information

Guatemala Plan del Guayabo Estate

Country: Guatemala
Region: New Oriente
Estate: Cardenas Estate
Grade: SHB
Processing Method: Wine Aroma Natural Process
Variety: Pacas
Altitude: 1675 meters
Flavor: Passion fruit, strawberry sandwich cookies, blueberry

Terroir Characteristics

Rich volcanic soil, lower humidity, abundant sunshine and cool nights define this producing region. The valley is ringed by three volcanoes, Agua, Fuego and Acatenango. Ash from their eruptions enriches the soil of the Antigua region with minerals, while volcanic pumice retains moisture and offsets the area's low rainfall. Dense tree shade also protects against the occasional frost.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Pacas is a Bourbon mutation, and if you want to taste the Bourbon family at its most approachable, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian lots are a natural place to start. FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic single-origin, half-washed rather than fully washed. Roasted medium, it shows creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel and hazelnut, with a round body, low acidity and a faint bitter edge. It works equally well as pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon or French press, making it a versatile everyday bean.

FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon is a rarer expression. Grown in Mogiana near South Minas, where the fertile red volcanic soil lets the cherries take up abundant nutrients, it is a yellow Bourbon, a natural mutation of Red Bourbon, and its fruit character is cleaner. Whether brewed by pour-over, moka pot or home espresso machine, it reveals a sugarcane-like sweetness found in few other regions, along with gentle fruit and chocolate notes.

Brazilian coffee's low acidity and balanced body also make it the backbone of many espresso recipes. FrontStreet Coffee Classic Blend, Premium Blend and Black Cocoa Blend all include Brazilian beans. Brazil supplies chocolate and cream aromas plus a soft sweet-sour-bitter balance, which in turn makes extraction more stable, whether you are pulling straight shots or steaming milk for a latte.