New Oriente—Santa Rosa Micro-Region|Agua Blanca Cooperative|Honey Process SHB Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee Guatemala Coffee | Nuevo Oriente Santa Rosa | Agua Blanca Cooperative Honey Process SHB

Cooperativa Agua Blanca

• Name: Cooperativa Agua Blanca
• Region: Nuevo Oriente - Santa Rosa micro-region
• Altitude: 1300-1700m
• Processing: honey process
• Variety: Catuai
• Annual Rainfall: 1800 - 2000mm
• Average Temperature: 18-25°C
• Humidity: 70-80%
• Soil: metamorphic rock and clay soil
• Shade Trees: Inga
• Flavor: jackfruit aroma, honey jujube, nuts, Indian basmati rice

The Nuevo Oriente Region

Nuevo Oriente is one of the seven specialty coffee regions defined by the Guatemalan Coffee Association (Anacafe) in 1980, covering the land between Barberena, Jutiapa, and Chiquimula.

Coffee here has been grown almost entirely by small producers since 1950. What was once one of Guatemala's poorest and most isolated areas is now vibrant and growing: nearly every farm in the mountains has become its own coffee-producing unit. Most Nuevo Oriente coffee comes from family-owned small estates that combine coffee with other staple crops for daily sustenance. As connoisseurs discovered the region and demand grew year by year, farm after farm switched to coffee as the primary crop and source of income.

The area sits on land shaped by ancient volcanic activity, but its climate is cloudy and rainy, and the soil — metamorphic rock evenly laced with minerals — sets it apart from Guatemala's volcanic-soil regions.

FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee roasts and offers beans from famous origins and lesser-known ones alike, spanning classic commercial lots to rare competition micro-lots.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Honey process is a half-way house between washing and naturals: the skin and pulp come off but the sweet mucilage stays on through drying, and different drying regimes create FrontStreet Coffee's yellow, red, and black honey tiers. If Agua Blanca's honey-processed Catuai won you over, the Panama Geisha lots at FrontStreet Coffee show what the same craft can do at the very top of the market. The Esmeralda Red Label (Esmeralda Special) grows at 1600-1800 meters, cups above 90 points per batch, and is traceable to a single plot such as Jaramillo; the Green Label (Private Collection) blends plots for Esmeralda's signature high-altitude Geisha flavor at a more accessible price.

For a Geisha experience closer to home ground, the Granla Estate Gesha near Yirgacheffe — hand-picked ripe cherries dried on raised beds for 14-20 days — offers bright citrus acidity, elegant ginger-flower aroma, and full ripe-fruit sweetness with Geisha's refined finish, roasted medium-light. If you'd rather taste honey sweetness without the Geisha price, FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy blend combines a Costa Rican honey process with Panamanian Geisha: orange-honey aroma, rounded sweetness, and enough versatility for pour-over, moka pot, espresso, or cold brew.