Guatemala's Seven Major Coffee Regions: Processing Methods, Flavor Characteristics, Stories, and Grade Classification

Introduction to Guatemalan Coffee

When it comes to Central American coffee, FrontStreet Coffee believes that experienced coffee enthusiasts have surely tasted Guatemalan coffee. Its coffee is renowned for being rich and full-bodied with tobacco notes. The smooth mouthfeel carries a subtle smoky flavor amidst the mellow richness, reminiscent of the blend between chocolate's sweetness and smoky notes. Due to this unique smoky aroma, Antigua coffee is also known as "cigarette coffee."

Guatemalan coffee ranks among the world's finest coffees, and FrontStreet Coffee attributes this to its advantage of high-altitude volcanic terrain. The volcanic soil is extremely fertile, with elevations generally around 1,700 meters, allowing for the cultivation of extremely hard coffee beans. Typically, the harder the bean quality, the richer the substances it contains.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's research, coffee was truly introduced to Guatemala in 1750 by Jesuit priests. By the late 19th century, German colonizers developed the region's coffee industry. Today, most coffee production occurs in the southern part of the country. Guatemala has seven major coffee-producing regions, each with distinct flavor profiles. However, overall, Guatemalan coffee exhibits a gentle and full-bodied character with elegant aromas and a special, pleasant acidity similar to fruit acids, establishing itself as the aristocrat of coffees. Among these, Antigua Classic coffee is highly recommended by coffee enthusiasts worldwide. FrontStreet Coffee has also introduced the La Minita estate's Guatemalan Flora coffee beans, featuring citrus, light floral notes, and chocolate aftertaste.

Coffee Processing Methods

Guatemala's coffee processing methods are primarily washed, with a small amount being natural processed. FrontStreet Coffee often encounters customers asking about the differences between washed and natural processing. Even coffee beans from the same region and estate can be either washed or natural processed. Friends who frequently purchase FrontStreet Coffee's daily supply beans will notice this.

Most of FrontStreet Coffee's daily supply beans use washed processing because this method presents the basic flavor characteristics of a region and serves as the starting point for understanding regional flavors. Natural processing adds sweet aromas and fermentation notes on top of these basic flavors. Meanwhile, FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemalan Huehuetenango coffee beans have become the representative of FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemalan daily supply beans due to their unique smoky character.

Washed Processing Procedure

1. Harvesting. After picking mature coffee cherries, initial screening removes impurities, defective beans, and floaters. This stage is identical to the natural processing method.

2. Depulping. Fresh cherries are fed into a depulping machine to remove the skin and pulp. Immature cherries, whose pulp doesn't separate easily, are screened out at this stage. After passing through the depulping machine, what remains is the mucilage, parchment, and seeds.

3. Fermentation to remove mucilage. The depulped seeds with mucilage are transferred to fermentation tanks. Although called the "washed method," it doesn't actually wash away the mucilage but rather removes it through biological decomposition during fermentation. The fermentation process takes about 16-36 hours, during which the beans must be stirred frequently to accelerate the separation of mucilage from the seeds. Washed fermentation produces acidic substances such as citric acid, malic acid, and acetic acid. These acids penetrate the raw beans, making washed method beans more acidic than natural processed beans. After fermentation is complete, the beans are washed again.

4. Drying. After washing, the beans need to be sun-dried or machine-dried to reduce moisture content to 12%. Since the pulp has been removed in the washed method, there's no need to worry about mold issues during drying, unlike the natural method. The dried parchment beans are not as hard as natural processed beans containing pulp and skin, and can be hulled using a hulling machine to obtain the raw beans.

Guatemala's Eight Coffee Regions

Guatemala has eight coffee-producing regions, and each region's flavor profile is influenced by its geographical distribution. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce these eight regions to our coffee enthusiast friends!

Antigua

The former capital and ancient city, located near the capital, is the most famous among all Guatemalan coffee regions. Consequently, it commands premium prices, and counterfeit Antigua coffee beans are common. The highest-priced beans are undoubtedly Bourbon coffee cherries grown in Antigua's characteristic volcanic soil. FrontStreet Coffee certainly wouldn't miss such distinctive coffee cherries, and later in this article, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce a Guatemalan Flora coffee from Antigua to our coffee enthusiast friends.

Flavor: Balanced sweet and sour.

Altitude: 1500-1700m

Acatenango Valley

Guatemala's eighth coffee region, which FrontStreet Coffee understands was originally a supply area for Antigua. It's located adjacent to Antigua, with majestic mountain valleys. The coffee-growing area extends along volcanic valleys, and the valleys retain warm, humid air. Combined with the temperature difference between day and night, this makes the area extremely suitable for growing coffee cherries.

Flavor: Excellent sweetness, delicate fruit acidity, with flavors and aromas widely loved by coffee enthusiasts.

Altitude: 1300-2900m

Rainforest Cobán

This region receives very high rainfall, is often shrouded in clouds and mist, and has a cool climate. The soil contains limestone and clay. Post-harvest processing often affects the quality of coffee from this region, but when processed well, the flavor becomes full and captivating.

Flavor: Good mouthfeel with chocolate and tropical fruit notes.

Altitude: 1300-1500m

Volcanic San Marcos

The quality of coffee from this region varies greatly. With abundant rainfall, coffee cherries flower intensively when it rains, leading to sun-drying after harvest being dependent on luck, causing inconsistent coffee quality in this region.

Flavor: Distinct acidity and sweetness, with properly processed coffee cherries having rich and unique aromas.

Altitude: 1400-1800m

Traditional Atitlán

The soil around Lake Atitlán is very fertile. The highest altitude coffee is grown at 1,950 meters, with most extending from slopes to the lakeshore, where the altitude remains 1,500m. This is also Guatemala's largest and most famous high-altitude lake region.

Flavor: Rich aroma and viscous body.

Altitude: 1500-1750m

Highland Huehuetenango

This region has the highest average altitude in Guatemala and belongs to Guatemala's volcanic producing areas. However, the routes to the capital are rugged and remote. Fortunately, hot, dry winds from Mexico blow here, allowing Highland Huehuetenango to grow coffee cherries at 2,000m.

Flavor: Bright, delicate acidity with floral notes and complex flavors.

Altitude: 1500-2000m

Fraijanes Plateau

This region belongs to volcanic producing areas with high altitude. The soil contains abundant pumice that can even be ignited. Its coffee flavor is balanced but has more unique aromatic characteristics than Antigua. FrontStreet Coffee believes this is probably due to the region's soil characteristics and variable temperature and humidity, making its coffee flavor stand out.

Flavor: Unique aroma, balanced flavor, gentle acidity, and full body.

Altitude: 1400-1800m

New Oriente

This region is near neighboring Honduras and has a climate similar to Cobán, though some areas are hotter. New Oriente belongs to volcanic regions, but its flavor differs significantly from other volcanic areas.

Flavor: Distinct aroma with chocolate and spice notes.

Altitude: 1200-1700m

FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemalan Varieties

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce all current Guatemalan varieties and their flavor characteristics!

FrontStreet Coffee · Guatemala Antigua Flora Coffee Beans

Country: Guatemala

Region: Antigua

Altitude: 1200-1600m

Varieties: Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai

Processing: Washed

Flavor: Floral, fruity, gentle acidity

Flora is a brand bean under La Minita company, with the producing region located in Antigua, Guatemala.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, La Minita is renowned for excellent cultivation, processing techniques, and extremely strict quality control. They commission Antigua's largest wet mill, Las Pastores, to process the raw beans according to these standards and name the coffee beans Flora. Because this FrontStreet Coffee Flora coffee not only maintains the original regional flavor but also carries rich floral and tea notes, with lime acidity and berry flavors upon entry, finishing with honey aftertaste. It is precisely this excellent cleanliness and rich complexity that has become the characteristic of FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemalan Flora coffee.

La Minita never uses pesticides. Due to the geographical advantages of the estate, the climate and altitude conditions limit pest populations, and the few pests present do not significantly impact the coffee trees. As the rainy season ends, coffee cherries begin to ripen. Green fruits start turning red, but coffee cherry maturation is very slow and uneven, unlike the rapid and consistent flowering. Therefore, harvesting work must be handled more carefully, selecting only fully ripe deep red cherries.

The fruits from a single tree may require up to 5 separate harvests depending on ripeness. The estate conducts soil testing twice a year to determine fertilization methods. La Minita estate is very cautious when using products that can increase yield, fertilizing about 3 times per year.

Additionally, applying trace elements such as zinc, boron, and copper can provide more nutrients to coffee trees and prevent diseases. Such scientific cultivation management has created the excellent performance of Flora coffee flavor and maintained consistent quality over the years. Following La Minita's famous gatekeeping procedures, the entire process from cultivation to packaging is strictly supervised. These complex procedures are all to ensure that Pastores mill provides only the best quality and strictly controls the estate's standard operating procedures.

FrontStreet Coffee believes it is precisely because of such strict standards that FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemalan Flora coffee achieves such excellent flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee · Guatemala Huehuetenango Coffee Beans

Country: Guatemala

Region: Huehuetenango

Altitude: 1500-2000m

Varieties: Bourbon, Typica, Catuai

Processing: Washed

Flavor: Citrus, berries, nuts, fruit tea

Huehuetenango is one of Guatemala's more famous coffee-producing regions, and its name is most intriguing. The name comes from the Nahuatl language, meaning "land of ancient people." The region contains Central America's highest non-volcanic mountain range, quite suitable for coffee cultivation. This region also relies heavily on coffee exports, thus producing many impressive coffees.

This FrontStreet Coffee Guatemalan Huehuetenango coffee, in FrontStreet Coffee's opinion, has lively and bright fruit acidity, grapefruit aroma, berries, and full body, ranking it as the crown of Guatemalan coffees. It's a favorite among those who love fruit-acid flavored coffees, with excellent sweet and sour balance, sometimes with lemon peel or citrus notes. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee strongly recommends it to all coffee enthusiast friends who love fruit-acid flavored coffees!

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

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