Introduction to Finca Santa Isabel Guatemala | Guatemala Coffee Flavor Profile

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Santa Isabel Estate Introduction

Santa Isabel Estate's full name is Santa Isabel Coban Estate. The "Coban" mentioned in the full name refers to the Coban rainforest located in central Guatemala, with varieties including Caturra, Catuai, and San Cristobal Verapaz.

History and Environment

Santa Isabel Estate won the Guatemala COE in 2012 and also received the honor of champion in the local Coban rainforest competition this year (2016). This estate is located in the Coban region of San Cristobal Verapaz, surrounded by majestic mountains, rainforests, and beautiful floral vegetation. Santa Isabel Estate has been growing coffee since 1875, the same year the President of Guatemala granted this estate to its current owners - the Valdes family. The estate places great importance on the operation of the environmental ecosystem, with approximately 100 hectares designated as reforested areas, planting pine and cypress trees that can help with water source preservation. In addition, the environment here features biodiversity, and coffee cherry pulp is used as soil fertilizer, allowing species in this area to continue and nurture more new life.

Coffee Processing Methods

At Santa Isabel Estate, coffee cherries are primarily hand-picked by local women, carefully selecting ripe red cherry berries. The pulping machines for removing cherry skin and pulp now use less water than in the past, and this water is also recycled for reuse. The coffee processing adopts partial fermentation and secondary soaking to achieve more consistent quality, with drying methods including sun drying, greenhouse drying, or Guardiola dryers.

Unique Processing Technique

Unlike typical processing methods where coffee is dried directly after fermentation, Santa Isabel Estate uses a special method where semi-fermented beans are rested in water, which gives the beans different flavor profiles.

Awards and Recognition

Additionally, this estate remarkably achieved third place in the 2012 COE Cup of Excellence (a competition for evaluating coffee in coffee-producing countries)!

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing Parameters:

Pour-over: V60 dripper, Fuji R440 grinder setting 3.5, water temperature around 90°C

French press: recommended grinder setting 4, water temperature 90°C

Siphon: recommended grinder setting 4, water temperature 90°C~91°C

AeroPress: recommended grinder setting 3.5, water temperature 90°C

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473