Guatemala La Tisha Estate Washed Specialty Coffee Beans: Differences, Distinctions, and Award-Winning Profile

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Bourbon Coffee

Bourbon (French: Café Bourbon) is a coffee from the Bourbon cultivar of Arabica, originally cultivated on Réunion—known as Bourbon Island (Île Bourbon) before 1789—which France later occupied, linking it to the African continent and Latin America. Today it stands as one of the two most significant Arabica lineages in global coffee. Bourbon is typically grown at altitudes of 3,500 to 6,500 feet (1,062-1,972 meters).

Caturra

Caturra is a single-gene variant of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in the 1950s. Its yield and disease resistance both outstrip Bourbon's, with comparable flavor. It suits cultivation at 700-1,700 meters and adapts well across elevations, though planting it high up comes at the cost of reduced production.

Coffee Bean Grading Systems

There's no unified grading system for coffee around the world—every producing country has its own system and names. That's why you'll see labels like "SHB," "AA+," "Supremo," "Extra-Fancy," or "Peaberries/small beans" on coffee packaging. Roasted beans on the market sometimes carry the grade of the single-origin lot, and the more detailed the grading information, the better the quality tends to be—commodity-grade coffee usually doesn't bother.

Hand Brew Method

Hand-brewed Guatemala La Tilce: 15g of coffee, medium grind (Fujiyama serrated blade at 4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water and bloom for 27 seconds, then pour to 105g and stop. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to halfway before pouring again, then pour slowly up to 225g and skip the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Address: No. 10 Bao'an Front Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
Contact: 020-38364473
Ingredients: Home-roasted
Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk
Taste: Aromatic coffee
Bean State: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Guatemala
Coffee Type: Other
Roast Level: Medium roast

Coffee Details: Guatemala Finca La Tilce

Country: Guatemala
Grade: SHB
Region: Fraijanes, Guatemala City
Altitude: 1,675 meters
Harvest Period: October to February of the following year
Processing Method: Washed
Varieties: Bourbon, Caturra
Processing Plant: La Tilce Estate

Guatemala Coffee History

Coffee truly arrived in Guatemala in 1750, brought by Jesuit priests, and German colonists built up the local industry in the late 19th century. Today most production happens in the country's south. Guatemala has seven main coffee regions—Antigua, Coban, Atitlan, Huehuetenango, Fraijanes, Oriente, and San Marcos—each with its own climate quirks and therefore its own bean character. Broadly speaking, Guatemalan coffee shows a mild, mellow texture, elegant aromatics, and a pleasant fruit-like acidity, earning it the title of "aristocrat of coffees."

Flavor Profile

Flavor: Black tea, floral notes, rich caramel sweetness

Fraijanes Plateau Terroir

Volcanic soil, high altitude, a humid and rainy climate, and active volcanism created the Fraijanes Plateau's singular geography. The Pacaya volcano here is the most active of Guatemala's three still-erupting volcanoes, regularly dusting the plateau with a thin layer of ash and feeding its soil with abundant minerals. The coffee's drying season coincides with the plateau's sunny season: mornings are often cloudy and foggy, but it burns off quickly, guaranteeing the region's sun exposure.

La Tilce Estate

Coffee cultivation at La Tilce Estate on the Fraijanes Plateau began in 1920. The estate grows Bourbon, Caturra, Pacamara, and other varieties—a genuinely diverse portfolio. Of the farm's 205 acres (1 acre = 4,046.8 square meters), 173 are under coffee, while the remaining 32 acres of native forest shelter local wildlife. Several natural springs on the farm provide ample, high-quality irrigation for the plantations during the dry season—and they also power the mill, supplying the water for washing.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Guatemala's elegance—black tea, florals, caramel—shows one side of Central American coffee; Brazil shows another. As the world's largest coffee producer, Brazil grows an enormous range of beans marked by moderate acidity and a beautiful balance of sweetness, bitterness, and body, which makes them ideal for medium roasts: nutty aromas up front, a mellow, smooth cup, and a faint acidity underneath. They work as single origin or as blend base alike.

If you just want a taste of Brazil, FrontStreet Coffee's Pulped Natural Cerrado is the classic pick—a famous single-origin from the Cerrado region, a Red Bourbon lot that at medium roast pours out creamy peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut aromas, round and non-acidic with only a light bitterness. It handles pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, and French press with equal ease. For something rarer, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Fazenda Rainha Yellow Bourbon comes from Mogiana near southern Minas Gerais, where fertile red volcanic soil feeds full-flavored cherries. Yellow Bourbon—a gene mutation of Red Bourbon—gives a cleaner fruit character, and brewed any way you like it reveals sugarcane sweetness you won't find elsewhere, alongside fruit and chocolate notes.

Brazil's low acidity and balance also explain why it anchors so many espresso blends. FrontStreet Coffee's crema-rich Classic Blend, the nutty Premium Blend, the balanced Black Cocoa Blend favored by baristas, and the café-focused Commercial Blend all contain Brazilian components—contributing chocolate and cream aromas, a gentle sweet-sour-bitter harmony, and a steady, extraction-friendly profile that keeps shots consistent day after day.