What Makes Guatemala Antigua Flor Coffee Beans Special & Where to Buy

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Introduction to Guatemala Coffee

Guatemala is located in the Central American isthmus, where many volcanoes form high mountains and plateaus, producing high-quality Central American high-altitude extremely hard coffee beans. It ranks as the 9th largest coffee bean producer in the world. The main coffee-producing regions in Guatemala include Antigua, Huehuetenango, Atitlan, Coban, Fraijanes, Acatenango, and seven other major regions. When coffee beans produced by Guatemala, which has seven major coffee-producing regions, are all Arabica, they are all located on highland terrain under subtropical climate conditions, with abundant and stable rainfall and fertile volcanic ash soil, making various parts of Guatemala have extremely suitable natural environmental conditions for coffee cultivation.

Flavor Characteristics of Guatemala Coffee

Each producing region has unique flavors, with excellent acidity and fruity aromas that are smooth and mellow, belonging to one of the world's top-tier coffees, suitable for single-origin consumption. The Antigua producing region is located in the topographically mountainous area that crosses Guatemala, primarily in the Madre plateau area. Due to the natural conditions of this producing region, Antigua has become Guatemala's most famous producing region.

Introduction to Antigua Coffee Region

Flores de Café is a brand bean under La Minita company, with its producing region located in Antigua, Guatemala, a highland surrounded by active volcanoes at an altitude of 1850 meters. It is the country's most award-winning and most famous producing region.

Antigua has little rainfall in summer, and occasionally experiences frost in winter due to excessive cold, which actually is not suitable for the growth of coffee trees. Fortunately, it is located in an active volcanic zone. After volcanic eruptions, volcanic pumice falls into the soil and cools. Because these pumice stones have many fine pores, they are very good at retaining moisture. Additionally, the large number of shade trees planted in the plantation prevents coffee trees from suffering from cold damage in winter. These factors that overcome adverse conditions, combined with the large day-night temperature difference, create a unique microclimate in Antigua, giving the coffee beans here a subtle smoky flavor and rich fruity aroma.

La Minita is famous for its excellent cultivation, processing techniques, and extremely strict quality control. They commission Las Pastores, the largest wet processing plant in Antigua, to process the raw beans according to these standards and name the coffee beans "Flores de Café." In addition to preserving the original regional flavor, the dry aroma carries rich floral and tea aromas. After tasting, it reveals lime acidity and berry flavors, transitioning to a honey-like aftertaste. Excellent cleanliness and rich layering are the characteristics of this Flores de Café.

La Minita Estate Coffee Cultivation

La Minita Estate does not use pesticides. Moreover, due to the climate and altitude formed by the geographical advantages of the estate, these conditions limit the number of pests, and the few pests do not have a significant impact on coffee trees. As the rainy season comes to an end, coffee fruits will also ripen soon after. Green fruits begin to turn red, but the maturation of coffee fruits is very slow and uneven, unlike the rapid and consistent flowering. Therefore, harvesting work must be handled more carefully, only harvesting fully matured deep red fruits. The fruits from a single tree may be harvested up to 5 times due to varying ripeness conditions. The estate conducts soil testing twice a year to determine how to fertilize. La Minita Estate is very careful when using products that can increase yield, fertilizing about 3 times a year.

Additionally, the application of trace elements such as zinc, boron, and copper can provide more nutrients to coffee trees and prevent diseases. Such scientific cultivation management has resulted in the excellent flavor performance of Flores de Café and a reputation for consistent quality over the years. According to La Minita's famous gatekeeping procedures, the entire process from cultivation to packaging of Flores de Café is strictly supervised. These complicated procedures are all to ensure that what the Pastores processing plant provides is of the best quality and to strictly control the estate's standard operating procedures. The Antigua producing region itself is the most famous among Guatemala's seven major producing regions. With high altitude, unique volcanic soil, and shade cultivation, the coffee beans from the Antigua region have a unique regional flavor.

[Guatemala Flores de Café - Wet Processing Method]

The varieties of Guatemala Flores de Café are mainly Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai. Bourbon and Typica are both ancient, high-quality coffee varieties. The bean appearance is smaller and rounder compared to Typica.

Caturra has a taste with lemon or citrus acidity. In terms of sweetness, it is inferior to Typica and Bourbon because Caturra's sweetness is determined by the frequency and dosage of fertilization by the grower. It has high productivity, but to maintain productivity, continuous fertilization and pruning are required, resulting in short trees with many branches. Although productivity has increased, because the harvest period takes 2 years and the care cost is higher, the yield is still somewhat limited.

Recommended Antigua Coffee Bean Brands

The Guatemala Antigua Coffee Beans - [Flores de Café] roasted by FrontStreet Coffee offer full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high value for money. A half-pound (227 grams) package costs only about 85 yuan. Calculated at 15 grams per cup of single-origin coffee, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 5-6 yuan. Compared to coffee shops that sell coffee for dozens of yuan per cup, this offers extremely high value for money.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473