Flavor and Profile of Guatemala Valmar Estate Natural Process Caturra? Coban, Guatemala

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Guatemala Valmar Estate Natural Caturra: Flavor Profile and Characteristics

What are the distinctive flavor characteristics of Guatemala's Koban region?

This coffee comes from the Huehuetenango region in northwestern Guatemala, which features fertile highland soil and abundant rainfall. More importantly, the unique valley-formed cloud belt climate is ideal for coffee cultivation. Guatemala's Valmar Estate is located in the Coban rainforest region. The Coban coffee growing area is situated in Alta Verapaz Province, 220 kilometers from Guatemala City, renowned for its pristine natural environment and unique microclimate. The processing method involves initial semi-fermentation followed by natural drying.

Valmar Estate is situated in San Cristobal, Alta Verapaz Province, surrounded by majestic mountain ranges, verdant landscapes, and fragrant flowers, near Coban where extremely hard beans are produced. Valmar Estate was granted by the Guatemalan president to the current owner's grandfather, establishing it as a coffee plantation in 1875 with diversified varieties. Valmar Estate preserves native natural forests, uses coffee grounds as organic fertilizer, and all coffee is hand-picked. Finally, the coffee beans are dried through natural sun drying and Guardiola's drying machines depending on temperature.

Valmar Estate is located in a perfect area with steep mountain ranges and lush rainforests. Located in the upper part of Alta Verapaz, very close to Coban, where extremely hard bean coffee is produced. When Valmar Estate was granted by the Guatemalan president to the current owner's great-grandfather, it has remained a family business since becoming a coffee plantation in 1875. The coffee estate has 187 hectares of coffee plantations with diverse varieties (Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, Pache).

Environmental Responsibility

The estate is highly committed to environmental responsibility during coffee cultivation. They preserve native natural forests and have an additional 100 hectares of reforested areas planted with pine and cypress trees. This practice helps preserve the natural water sources within the estate, allowing various animals to thrive, including deer, birds, and squirrels. On the other hand, they also use coffee grounds from processing as organic compost. Coffee quality is equally important as they carefully attend to every step of the production process, from seed selection to final storage, with all coffee being hand-picked.

Processing Distinction

Although the general understanding is that semi-fermented processed coffee falls between washed and natural processing in terms of cleanliness and flavor complexity, Valmar's specialty lies in its exceptional cleanliness, completely comparable to washed processed coffee, with flavor complexity that can rival natural processed beans.

Variety Information

This coffee's variety is Caturra, an extremely adaptable species that doesn't depend on shade trees and is convenient for harvesting. In Teacher Han's "New Edition Coffee Science" book, one can read that historically, Caturra's reputation was not as good as Yellow Bourbon, but with advances in cultivation techniques, when not using price as the sole standard of measurement, Alice personally believes its flavor doesn't lose to Yellow Bourbon and has developed its own distinctive style!

• Region: Coban
• Soil: Volcanic soil
• Certification: Cup of Excellence 3rd Place
• Altitude: 1200-1500 meters
• Annual Rainfall: 3000mm
• Average Temperature: 18°C
• Drying Method: Natural drying
• Processing Method: Washed
• Variety: Caturra

Tasting Notes

Cream, honey, chocolate, vanilla, grapefruit, persistent sweetness, delicate mouthfeel. Fruit-like aromas are easily detected during brewing, and excellent sweetness is a distinctive characteristic of Valmar Estate's coffee beans.

Upon entry, the palate experiences blackcurrant and citrus-like sweet and sour sensations, followed by vanilla apple and orange blossom flavors and aromas. This fruit-like sweet and sour sensation becomes milder as the temperature decreases, finally leaving smooth drupe fruit aromas and caramel sweetness in the aftertaste.

Excellent sweetness is a distinctive characteristic of Valmar Estate's coffee beans. This is a premium coffee that simultaneously possesses both fruit and nut characteristics.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

V60 dripper, 15g coffee grounds, water temperature 90°C, grind level 3, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15

30g water for bloom, bloom time 30s

Pouring stages: Pour water to 110ml, wait until water level drops to 1/3, then slowly pour to 225ml and stop.

That is 30-110-85.

Other Drip Brewing Recommendations

• French Press: Recommended grind level 3.5-4, water temperature 90°C
• AeroPress: Recommended grind level 2.5, water temperature 90°C
• Pour-over: Grind level 3.5, water temperature 91°C
• Grind level 3.5 - 90°C water temperature