How to Brew Guatemala Antigua Coffee _ Antigua Coffee Bean Brewing Tutorial _ How to Make Antigua Coffee

The Cultivation History of Antigua Coffee

After Guatemala gained independence in 1838, the Spanish introduced coffee cultivation to the country. They drew on the hard work of the local Maya people and on cheap labor to keep supplying inexpensive coffee across Latin America. That went on until the 1970s, when, after the Second World War, German merchants promoted Guatemalan coffee hard in Germany and lifted it to prominence. Before the war, 60% of Guatemala's coffee was exported to Germany. In 1942, however, Guatemala, allied with the United States, formally declared war on the Axis powers and confiscated all German-owned coffee plantations in the country. In the 1950s, with help from American coffee experts, those confiscated estates were broken into smaller units and distributed to the farming families who worked them.

Guatemala lies on the Central American isthmus, its many mountains and plateaus formed by volcanoes, and it produces high-quality, high-altitude, very hard Central American beans, ranking as the world's 9th largest coffee-producing country. Its main regions number seven: Antigua, Huehuetenango, Atitlan, Coban, Fraijanes, San Marcos and Acatenango. All the coffee it grows is Arabica, cultivated on highland terrain under a subtropical climate with abundant, steady rainfall and fertile volcanic ash soil, giving the country near-ideal conditions for coffee. Each region has its own flavor, with excellent acidity and fruity fragrance, smooth and mellow, placing Guatemalan coffee among the world's finest and well suited to drinking as a single origin. The Antigua region lies in the mountainous belt that crosses Guatemala, centered mainly on the Madre plateau, and those natural advantages have made it the country's most famous region. Antigua sits directly southwest, facing the three volcanic groups of Agua, Fuego and Acatenango, a geographic setting that amounts to a coffee paradise.

Coffee Information

Coffee Country: Guatemala

Coffee Region: Antigua

Producer: Bella Carmona

Coffee Varieties: Bourbon, Caturra, Typica

Altitude: 1,200~1,650m

Grade: SHB

Processing Method: Washed

Roast Level: Medium roast

Product Specifications: 227 grams (half pound) coffee beans

Brewing Equipment: Commercial espresso machines, American drip brewers, pour-over, siphon, moka pot

Flavor Description: Milk chocolate aftertaste with brown sugar and nut sweetness.

Roaster's Notes: Bella Carmona represents the highest quality coffee in Antigua. The medium roast brings out an inherent milk chocolate aroma and adds a distinctive brown sugar sweetness, with a sweet aftertaste and a delicate mouthfeel that lingers.

Coffee Flavor Radar Chart Reference

Aroma 3, Flavor 4, Aftertaste 3, Acidity 2, Sweetness 2.5, Bitterness 2, Body 4

Hario V60 Pour-over Extraction Record

1. Grind Size: Fuji scale 5, roughly the size of granulated sugar.

2. Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:16, 15 grams of grounds, total water 240cc.

3. Brewing Water Temperature: 88~90°C

4. Extraction Time: 1 minute 55 seconds total.

Pour 30cc of water and bloom for 25~30 seconds. Pour to 240cc, stop, let it finish dripping, then remove the dripper.

Clever Dripper Extraction Record

1. Grind Size: Fuji scale 3.5, roughly the size of fine granulated sugar.

2. Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:16, 15 grams of grounds, total water 240cc.

3. Brewing Water Temperature: 88~90°C

4. Extraction Time: 1 minute 55 seconds total.

Pour 30cc of water and bloom for 25~30 seconds. Pour to 240cc, stop, let it finish dripping, then remove the dripper.

Espresso Machine Extraction Record

Dose: 19 grams

Water Temperature: 90~92°C

Pressure: 8.5~9 bar

Pre-infusion Time: 6~7 seconds

Total Extraction Time: 27~28 seconds

Extraction Yield: 48~50cc

For espresso blends, it is best to open and use the beans after 7-10 days of resting for a smoother, more aromatic shot. The records above were taken on specific equipment, and the parameters will shift with different setups.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Antigua's soft milk chocolate and brown sugar sweetness puts it in the same family as the classic, balanced Arabicas that many drinkers settle on for daily brewing, and that balance is what the FrontStreet Coffee line is built around. FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 is the benchmark of the style, from the Clifton Estate, where coffee has been grown since around 1750 on land averaging 4,300 feet, or 1,310.64 meters; medium-dark roasted, it opens with nut, dark chocolate, cream caramel and a gentle sweetness, holding sweet, acidic, bitter and aromatic notes in balance, and it works just as well in a moka pot or as espresso as in a pour-over.

If you want balance with more aromatic lift, FrontStreet Panama Red Label Geisha comes from Hacienda La Esmeralda in Boquete, Chiriqui, on volcanic soil beneath old forest and persistent mist, and layers elegant florals, citrus and peach over a creamy body with an oolong-tea finish. FrontStreet Huakui sits on the fruitier side, a natural Ethiopian heirloom from Hambela in Guji, a field blend of unidentified varieties that gives the beans their uneven size, with cream strawberry, mango, jackfruit, citrus and blueberry over a ripe tropical sweetness; its character helped it take first place at the TOH green-bean competition. FrontStreet Brazil Queen's Estate and FrontStreet Colombia Sidra fill out the range with yellow Bourbon notes of cream, peanut, toasted bread and sugarcane on one side, and the floral, tropical-fruit, grape, dried-fruit and passionfruit profile of Sidra on the other.

To brew the Antigua beans, follow the extraction records above: a V60 or Clever Dripper at 88-90°C and a 1:16 ratio, 15 grams of grounds to 240cc of water, a 30cc bloom of 25-30 seconds and a total time near 1 minute 55 seconds. On a home machine, 19 grams in at 90-92°C and 8.5-9 bar, with a 6-7 second pre-infusion and 27-28 seconds for 48-50cc, makes the most of the chocolate and brown sugar sweetness.