Guatemala Antigua Flora De Dios Coffee Bean Variety Flavor Profile Cupping Pour-Over Roasting Parameters

FrontStreet Coffee believes Antigua is Guatemala's most renowned coffee producing region. Rich volcanic soil, low humidity, abundant sunshine, and cool nights combine to create Guatemala Antigua's exceptional coffee. On FrontStreet Coffee's menu, there is a very famous coffee bean from the Antigua region: FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemala Flor de Café. This bean is a brand under La Minita Company. La Minita Flor de Café is their star product, processed by Guatemala's renowned Pastores Mill processing plant. Under La Minita's strict supervision, from purchasing green beans to washing and sun-drying processes, everything follows La Minita's rigorous standards. They strictly supervise the entire process of Flor de Café from cultivation to packaging. These meticulous procedures ensure that the coffee provided by Pastores Mill is of the highest quality.

FrontStreet Coffee · Guatemala Antigua La Minita Flor de Café

Region: Antigua Region

Altitude: 1200-1600m

Company: La Minita

Varieties: Bourbon, Caturra

Processing Method: Washed Process

Grade: SHB

Introduction to Guatemala

Guatemala is located in the Central American isthmus, with many volcanic mountains and highlands throughout its territory, producing high-quality Central American high-altitude strictly hard coffee beans, ranking as the world's 9th largest coffee bean producer. Guatemala's main coffee regions include seven major producing areas: Antigua, Huehuetenango, Atitlán, Cobán, Fraijanes, San Marcos Volcano, and Acatenango. All coffee beans produced in Guatemala's seven coffee regions are Arabica, located in highland terrain under subtropical climate conditions. The abundant and stable rainfall, fertile volcanic ash soil, provides excellent natural environmental conditions suitable for coffee cultivation throughout the country.

Each region possesses unique flavors, with superior acidity and fruity smoothness, belonging to one of the world's top coffees, suitable for single-origin consumption. The Antigua region is located in the entire area dominated by the Madre plateau within the topographically mountainous range crossing Guatemala. Due to these natural conditions, Antigua has become Guatemala's most famous region.

Antigua Origin

The FrontStreet Coffee Guatemala Flor de Café mentioned earlier is a brand bean under La Minita Company, originating from the Antigua region of Guatemala. It is a highland surrounded by active volcanoes at an altitude of 1850 meters, making it the country's most awarded and famous region.

Antigua has little rainfall in summer, and winter occasionally brings frost due to extreme cold, conditions that are actually unsuitable for coffee tree growth. Fortunately, it's located in an active volcanic zone. After volcanic eruptions, volcanic pumice falls into the soil and cools. These pumice stones have numerous fine pores that are excellent for moisture retention. Additionally, large numbers of shade trees are planted within the estates, protecting coffee trees from cold damage in winter. These factors that overcome adverse conditions, combined with significant day-night temperature differences, create Antigua's unique microclimate, giving the coffee beans here a subtle smoky flavor and rich fruity aroma.

La Minita is famous for its excellent cultivation and processing techniques, as well as extremely strict quality control. They commission Antigua's largest washing processing plant, Las Pastores, to handle the green beans according to these standards, naming the coffee Flor de Café. While preserving the original regional flavors, FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemala Flor de Café has a dry aroma with rich floral and tea notes. Upon tasting, lime acidity and berry flavors emerge, transitioning to a honey-like finish. Excellent clarity and rich layered complexity are the characteristics of this FrontStreet Coffee Antigua Flor de Café.

La Minita Estate does not use pesticides. Due to its geographical advantages in climate and altitude, these conditions limit pest populations, and the few pests that exist do not significantly impact coffee trees. As the rainy season ends, coffee fruits begin to ripen. Green fruits start turning red, but coffee fruit ripens very slowly and unevenly, unlike the rapid and uniform flowering. Therefore, harvesting must be handled more carefully, collecting only fully matured deep red fruits. Fruits from a single tree may require up to 5 separate harvests based on ripeness. La Minita conducts soil testing twice a year to determine fertilization needs. La Minita is very cautious when using products that increase yield, fertilizing approximately 3 times a year.

Additionally, applying micronutrients such as zinc, boron, and copper provides more nutrients to coffee trees and prevents diseases. Such scientific cultivation management has created Flor de Café's excellent flavor performance and consistent quality reputation over the years. Following La Minita's famous strict procedures, they supervise the entire process of Flor de Café from cultivation to packaging. These complex procedures ensure that the coffee provided by Pastores processing plant is of the highest quality, while strictly controlling the estate's standard operating procedures. The Antigua region itself is the most famous of Guatemala's seven coffee regions, with high altitude, unique volcanic soil, and shade cultivation, giving Antigua's coffee beans a distinctive regional flavor.

Washed Processing Method

The batch of FrontStreet Coffee Guatemala Flor de Café coffee beans purchased by FrontStreet Coffee uses the washed processing method. Below are the steps of the washed processing method.

1. Removing Floaters: Coffee beans are poured into large water tanks. Underdeveloped inferior beans will float to the surface, while mature, full fruits will sink to the bottom. At this point, the floating beans are scooped out, completing the removal of floaters.

2. Removing Pulp and Skin: Using a pulping machine, the outer skin and pulp of the coffee fruit are removed (leaving mucilage, parchment, and silver skin).

3. Fermentation: The purpose of this step is to use biological processing methods to remove the mucilage. The coffee fruits processed by the pulping machine are placed in fermentation tanks for 16-36 hours. Fermentation bacteria will dissolve the mucilage.

4. Washing: After completing fermentation and removing mucilage, fermentation bacteria and impurities may remain on the coffee beans, so they are washed again. To ensure thorough cleaning, this step consumes large amounts of fresh water.

5. Drying and Removing Parchment and Silver Skin: The coffee fruits are sun-dried to reduce moisture content to 10-14%. Then, a hulling machine is used to remove the remaining parchment and silver skin, completing the processing.

Green Bean Analysis

The FrontStreet Coffee Guatemala Flor de Café coffee beans purchased by FrontStreet Coffee are Bourbon and Caturra varieties. Bourbon is a natural mutation of Typica, ranked alongside Typica as ancient, high-quality varieties. The beans are slightly smaller and rounder than Typica. Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon, with fresh lemon-citrus acidity in flavor, slightly less sweet than Typica and Bourbon.

Roasting Analysis

Cupping Notes

This batch of FrontStreet Coffee Guatemala Flor de Café green beans is round in shape, green with yellow tones, with good uniformity and medium moisture content. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting target is medium roast, aiming to preserve bright acidity to showcase floral and fruity aromas while enhancing richness and balance.

Brewing Demonstration

Brewing Parameters:

Coffee Amount: 15 grams

Ratio: 1:15

Water Temperature: 90-91°C

Grind Size: 0.85mm screen, 80% pass rate

Dripper: Hario V60 #01

Brewing Process:

First Pour: 30 grams of water for bloom, 30 seconds

Second Pour: Add 95 grams water (scale shows 125 grams), complete in about 1 minute

Third Pour: Add 100 grams water (scale shows 225 grams), complete in about 1 minute 40 seconds

Extraction Time: 1 minute 54 seconds, remove dripper to complete brewing

Flavor Description: Berry acidity, citrus, subtle chocolate, rich layered complexity, smooth mouthfeel

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473