Guatemala SL28 Coffee Bean Roasting and Flavor Characteristics | Guyabo/Plain of Guava Estates

Today, we're featuring the SL28 that has come into FrontStreet Coffee's spotlight. This bean has crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Guatemala, Central America. Among African beans that have left their homeland, besides the renowned Gesha, SL28 is quite rare. So what kind of flavor characteristics will it develop in Guatemala? Let's find out~

SL28 is a direct descendant of Bourbon, selected and cultivated in Kenya in the early 20th century by French and British missionaries and researchers. It possesses a mixed heritage of French Mission, Mocha, and Yemen Typica. High sweetness, delicate balance, prominent citrus and plum flavors, rich body, and of course, strong, rich fruit acidity are the characteristics of SL28. Along with SL34, it dominates most of Kenya's coffee production. The bean introduced by FrontStreet Coffee today is planted in the New Oriente region of Guatemala.

Estate: Finca Plan del Guayabo Estate

Region: New Oriente

Micro-region: Volcán de Suchitán

Altitude: 1675 meters

Annual rainfall: 1500mm

Variety: SL28

Processing: Honey processed

Shade: 100% shade-grown

Flowering period: April-May

Harvest period: January-March

New Oriente Region

New Oriente is one of Guatemala's oldest coffee-producing regions. In the 1980s, this area began to take off due to increasing demand for specialty coffee. As one of Guatemala's historically poorest and most remote areas, the region is now developing rapidly, with small estates throughout beginning to grow coffee. New Oriente has a cloudy, rainy climate and is located on former volcanic mountain ranges. The soil consists of metamorphic rock, making it rich in minerals. Unlike other volcanic regions in Guatemala, the New Oriente area has experienced considerable volcanic activity since coffee was first planted, making it a minority that survived adversity.

Current estate owner Mr. Benjamin Donado

Plan del Guayabo

Plan del Guayabo is located next to the Volcán de Suchitan volcano in the New Oriente region of Guatemala. The farm's Spanish name "Plan del Guayabo" means "Guava Plain," named after the abundant cultivation of guava trees in the area. The current owner of Plan del Guayabo is Mr. Benjamin Donado. His family began growing coffee in 1990. Due to the steep terrain and high altitude, almost everyone locally believed this area was suitable for forestry but not coffee cultivation. However, Mr. Donado firmly believed that good coffee could be grown here.事实证明, this was the correct decision, and we thank Mr. Donado's "stubbornness" for allowing us to taste this delicious coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting and Flavor Evaluation

SL28 + honey processing - the roaster's first thought was: sour and sweet! Guatemala high-altitude coffee beans have high density, and honey-processed coffee beans also give the beans a hard texture. Through the first roast, it was discovered that this bean absorbs heat slowly during the dehydration stage, and slow temperature rise leading to excessive roasting time can result in roasted flavors.

So the roaster changed approach, using high heat quick roasting during the dehydration stage, extending the Maillard reaction time at the yellowing point and the development time after first crack to achieve mature coffee. This roasting was done twice, and cupping comparison was performed after 8 hours.

Curve A

Curve B

Above are two roasting curves using high heat quick roasting with extended development. The yellowing points for roasts A and B were 5'30 and 4'50 respectively, while the first crack points were 185°C/8'40 and 187°C/8'36. The drop temperatures and development times were 196°C/1'50 and 198°C/2'00 respectively. Based on the roasting curve analysis, roast B received more energy in the early stages and had a longer flavor development time, so we can predict that both enzymatic and caramelization flavors will be better than roast A. So did the cupping actually reflect the roasting results?

Cupping results are as follows:

Roast A: Roasted peanuts, almonds, cocoa, caramel, grapefruit, cream.

Roast B: Floral notes, toffee, almonds, cocoa, cinnamon, plums, jackfruit, with a faint tobacco flavor nurtured by Guatemala's volcanic soil.

Other notes: Roast B's coffee shows better balance between acidity and sweetness, with high sweetness, long aftertaste, and strong sweet return.

Roasting machine: Yangjia 600g, 300g batch size, roasting room temperature 28°C, humidity 50%.

The roaster used low temperature bean entry, increased heat to 160 after 30 seconds, damper at 3, allowing the return temperature to reach 101°C. At the browning point of 160°C, the damper was opened to 4. This minute saw a slight temperature increase due to water vapor release. Based on the first crack temperatures from the first two roasts, we predicted the first crack around 185°C. We reduced heat to 100°C 10°C in advance, slowing the temperature rise to prepare for extending the development time after first crack. First crack at 187°C, development of 11°C, taking 2 minutes, during which crack sounds appeared orderly.

24 Hours Later - FrontStreet Coffee Barista's Pour-Over

16g dose, water temperature 90°C, powder-to-water ratio 1:16, medium-fine grind (suitable for light roast coffee), brewing time 2 minutes 15 seconds.

This coffee presents a rich toffee aroma at first sip, with the excellent balanced body typical of Central American coffee, carrying cinnamon notes. As it cools slightly, almond and jackfruit flavors emerge, finishing with cocoa and berry notes. The aftertaste carries tobacco and sweet return, with strong caramel sweetness in the cup bottom. After finishing a cup, it gives one the feeling of seeing SL28 advance into the American continent, battling wind and waves on the boundless ocean, and finally perfectly integrating with its new home.

Important Notice :

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