Guatemala New Eastern Region Coffee Beans Flavor Characteristics: Pour-Over, French Press, Siphon, and AeroPress Brewing Methods

Guatemala Nuevo Oriente: Flavor Characteristics and Brewing Methods

This distinctive region, the first part of the country to catch the day's earliest light, is Guatemala's easternmost coffee-producing area. Nuevo Oriente is one of the seven specialty coffee regions defined by the Guatemalan Coffee Association (Anacafe) in 1980, and it is officially delimited as the land between Barberena, Jutiapa, and Chiquimula.

Since 1950, coffee here has been grown almost entirely by small producers. What was once one of Guatemala's poorest and most isolated areas is now full of vitality and steadily growing, with nearly every farm on the mountain becoming its own coffee production unit. Most coffee from Nuevo Oriente comes from small, family-owned estates that also grow other basic crops for daily sustenance. The region has quickly gained fame among coffee connoisseurs, and demand for its coffee rises year after year. As a result, practically every farm on the mountain has shifted to coffee cultivation, replacing other crops as its primary product and source of income.

Set in a region of frequent past volcanic activity, Nuevo Oriente has a cloudy, rainy climate. Its soil consists of metamorphic rock evenly mixed with abundant minerals, which makes it quite different from the soil of other volcanic regions.

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

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Because Nuevo Oriente beans brew so well as a full immersion cup, a French-press-friendly coffee is a great place to start. FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy is a Geisha blend of Costa Rican honey-processed coffee and Panamanian washed Geisha, and steeped in a French press it releases aromas of rose, citrus, grape, and raisin, turning candy-like and strawberry-sweet once milk is added.

If you prefer a low-acid, full-bodied black coffee, reach for FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling. As one of Asia's best-known specialty coffees, it is sorted three times by hand plus once by machine, and after a medium-dark roast its large beans show rich spice, caramel, fir, and dark chocolate aromas, with a mellow body and plenty of oils when brewed in a French press.