Wine-Like Natural Guatemala Coffee Flavor Profile - Best Guatemala Coffee Brands

Guatemala is a renowned producer of high-quality Arabica coffee in Central America. Coffee from its five volcanic regions and three non-volcanic regions is exceptionally distinctive and enjoys an excellent reputation on the international market.

New Oriente

Coffee in this region has been grown exclusively by small farmers since the 1950s. Today, every household in the mountainous area functions as a coffee production unit. The region was once the most remote and impoverished part of Guatemala, but now it shows vibrant vitality. With abundant rainfall and cloudy weather, New Oriente was a volcanic region in ancient times. Its soil evolved from volcanic metamorphic rock, rich in minerals and nutritionally balanced, unlike other volcanic coffee-producing regions.

Pour-Over Guatemala Wine-Aroma Natural

15g of coffee grounds, medium grind (Fuji ghost-tooth blade grinder setting 4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water and bloom for 27 seconds, pour to 105g and stop. Wait until the water level drops to halfway, then slowly pour until reaching 225g. Avoid the tail. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Product Information

Brand: FrontStreet Coffee
Ingredients: In-house roasted
Shelf life: 30 days
Net weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk
Taste: Neutral coffee beans
Raw/coffee degree: Roasted coffee beans
Contains sugar: Sugar-free
Origin: Guatemala
Coffee type: Other
Roast degree: Medium roast

Guatemala Plan del Guayabo Estate

Country: Guatemala
Region: New Oriente
Estate: Cardenas Estate
Grade: SHB
Processing method: Wine-aroma natural processing

The New Oriente Region

Fertile volcanic soil, low humidity, abundant sunshine and cool nights characterize this region. The valley is surrounded by three volcanoes: Agua, Fuego and Acatenango. Volcanic ash from eruptions has enriched the soil of the Antigua region with minerals. Volcanic pumice retains moisture, overcoming the drawback of low rainfall in the Antigua region. Dense tree shade prevents occasional frost damage.

Variety: Pacas
Altitude: 1,675 meters
Flavor: Passion fruit, strawberry sandwich cookies, blueberry

Guatemala has numerous volcanoes, and coffee produced in volcanic soil yields rich, premium specialty coffee. Guatemala's average altitude is very high. High altitude means coffee trees grow in an environment with significant day-night temperature differences. That harsh swing in temperature makes the cherries grow longer and more slowly on the tree, producing hard beans with more complete and complex flavors.

Characteristics

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

This newly arrived coffee comes from the premier estate in Guatemala's New Oriente region, Cardenas Estate.

Wine-Aroma Natural Flavor Profile

Pineapple, muskmelon, dried apricot, candied lemon peel, Bordeaux wine, green tea with cinnamon spice, overall filled with rich sweetness and the full-bodied aroma of smoked preserved plums.

Pacas is a natural mutation of Bourbon, similar to Catuera in Brazil and Villa Sarchi in Costa Rica. Like other widely cultivated Bourbon mutations, Pacas is a new variety formed by a single-gene mutation, which also gives it a crucial characteristic: the plants can be planted more densely, ultimately producing higher yields per unit area.

Pacas was first discovered in 1949 by the Pacas family in the Santa Ana region of El Salvador. Fernando Alberto Pacas Figueroa noticed some plants with different morphology on the family's Finca San Rafael estate, after which he began collecting seeds and selecting varieties. He later developed about 3/4 hectare of Pacas "pioneer nursery."

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

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A wine-aroma natural like this one shines on a pour-over, and the V60 is the ideal tool for it. Hario, the Japanese glassmaker founded in Tokyo in 1921, redesigned the V60's precursor in 2004 and released it to market a year later, naming it for its distinctive 60° cone and V shape. The cone-and-60° design forces the water to the center before it drips through, extending contact between water and grounds, and the single large hole lets the flow run freely, so the brewer's control directly shapes the cup. That fast, even extraction is exactly what draws out the layered fruit and floral notes of a natural coffee like this Guatemala.

For fruit-forward beans that reward a V60, FrontStreet Coffee recommends three: our Yirgacheffe Gotiti, with its classic citrus and berry notes and a green-tea sweetness; our Hambella Flower Queen, loaded with tropical aromas of strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit and even lychee, with almost no bitterness; and our Strawberry Candy blend, which combines a Costa Rican honey process with Panama Geisha for delicate florals and sweet fruit. All three are comfortable at the light end of the roast scale, where the V60's clarity and lively acidity come through best.