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Guatemala Antigua Coffee: Roasting Record

Guatemala SHB Genuine Antigua. Antigua is volcanic-region coffee: a gentle smokiness, unique fruit aroma, and a distinctive flavor with a lightly acidic edge — the archetype of a great Central American bean.

Roasting Setup

Roasting machine: Hottop KN8828

Roasting setting: TEMP7+PLUS5

Green bean charge: 260g

Roast Log

1. Preheating

2. Drying Phase (00:00-06:00)

00:00 beans charged

01:20 ventilation on

02:20 ventilation off

3. Roasting Phase (06:00-13:30)

07:00 faint aroma appears

09:00 beans turn yellow

11:00 roast aroma becomes pronounced; beans distinctly yellow

4. Hot-Air Phase (13:30-17:00)

13:30 fan on

5. First Crack (17:00-19:00)

18:00 first crack intensifies

6. Second Crack (20:00 onward)

7. Drop and Cooling

21:00 beans dropped

21:00-26:00 cooling

8. Result: 225g roasted, City+

Brewing

Equipment: flannel-cloth pour-over

Dose: 24g, ground at setting 2 on the Small Flying Eagle grinder

Water: 420cc at 93°C

Guatemala Coffee Country

Coffee arrived in Guatemala with missionaries around 1750, and German growers expanded the industry from 1860 onward. Today roughly 60,000 family farms grow coffee across the country, much of it in the mountain chain near the Pacific coast — a range that runs the length of the country, linking toward the Rockies to the north and the Andes to the south.

Because climate, soil, rainfall, humidity, altitude, and temperature vary dramatically from region to region, Guatemala produces seven distinct regional coffees: Antigua, Fraijanes Plateau, Rainforest Cobán, Highland Huehuetenango, Atitlán, Volcan San Marcos, and Oriente. Of these, Antigua is the name the world knows best.

Most Guatemalan coffee is Arabica, washed-processed, grown between 2,300 and 5,600 feet. Picking is done almost entirely by hand; harvest can happen year-round, though the main season runs from July through the following April.

Genuine Antigua

Region/Grade: Antigua / Screen 17+. The world-famous Antigua cup is dense and rich, with a flavor like ripe berries.

Antigua is ringed by active volcanoes that erupt roughly every 30 years, and each eruption enriches already-fertile soil — giving the coffee its characteristic full, tobacco-like depth. The smooth bitterness married to those charming tobacco notes is what makes the cup so intense and satisfying.

Because Antigua is Guatemala's most prestigious region — its sulfur-rich soil produces wonderfully aromatic, balanced coffee that people will pay extra for — counterfeit "Antigua" beans flooded the market. In response, farm owners within the region founded the Genuine Antigua Producers Association (APCA) to protect the name and uphold quality. Certified member farms ship their coffee in burlap bags bearing the APCA member logo; "Genuine Antigua" literally means authentic Antigua.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemala Antigua Flora lot is assured on both brand and quality, and it is excellent value: a half-pound (227g) bag costs about 85 yuan. At 15g per single-origin brew, one bag makes 15 cups — only 5-6 yuan per cup, next to café prices that often reach dozens of yuan.

If Antigua's smoky, full-bodied, low-acid richness is what you're after, FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesia Lintong Mandheling delivers that same intense, warming character from a different corner of the coffee world. Sourced from the Lintong region around Lake Toba in northern Sumatra, this G1-grade bean is wet-hulled and deep-roasted to maximize Mandheling's signature dark-sugar, spice, herbal, nut, and dark-chocolate aromas. The cup is thick, fragrant, and strongly low-acid — bold without bitterness — and it brews beautifully as pour-over, in a moka pot, or through a clever dripper. FrontStreet ships all beans freshly roasted within five days of your order, and this approachable lot also makes an excellent practice bean for anyone learning to brew darker, richer coffees.