Nav: Home > Coffee >

Guatemala Coffee Bean Varieties and Grading Standards: Planting History and Unique Culture

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information. Please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style). FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Guatemala Grading. Guatemala is located in Central America, a country with year-round tropical rainforest weather, high humidity, and warm climate. Guatemala, together with Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama, forms Central America.

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Guatemala Grading

Guatemala is located in Central America, a country with year-round tropical rainforest weather, high humidity, and warm climate. Guatemala, together with Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama, forms the Central American Volcanic Arc. Due to Guatemala's high-altitude volcanic terrain, which has a background of natural disasters but also possesses fertile soil, these conditions happen to be ideal for coffee cultivation.

Guatemala is situated in the tropics with numerous volcanoes. The northern and eastern coastal plains have a tropical rainforest climate, while the southern mountainous region has a subtropical climate. The year is divided into dry and wet seasons, with May to October being the wet season and November to April of the following year being the dry season. Annual precipitation in the northeast ranges from 2000-3000 millimeters, while the south receives 500-1000 millimeters.

Coffee was truly introduced to Guatemala in 1750 by Jesuit priests, and by the late 19th century, German colonists developed the coffee industry here. Today, most coffee production is carried out in the southern part of the country. Guatemala has seven major coffee-producing regions, each producing coffee with different flavor characteristics. Generally speaking, Guatemalan coffee presents a mild and mellow overall texture, with elegant aroma and a special, pleasant acidity similar to fruit acids, making it truly the aristocrat of coffees. Among these, Antigua Classic Coffee is highly recommended by coffee connoisseurs worldwide.

Guatemalan coffee beans belong to the Bourbon variety, one of the more acidic varieties, with fragrant and mellow flavor that is slightly wild. The aroma of Guatemalan coffee liberates all forms, spirits, and national boundaries. Through coffee, the mood can take off at any time, landing in unfamiliar countries half a world away, concerning its native terroir, harvest year, roasting and grinding methods—indeed, coffee's lifelong journey. Guatemala's fertile volcanic soil nurtures uniquely flavored specialty coffee beans: Antigua coffee. The charm of Antigua lies in its balanced, refreshing fruit acidity, rich spice flavor, and unique smoky taste, as if telling us about the bleak history of Antigua, Guatemala.

Guatemala's grading standards are mainly because coffee produced at high altitudes generally has higher quality than that produced at low altitudes. This is because high altitude means low temperatures, and slow coffee production is conducive to the accumulation of desirable substances. Additionally, ripe green beans expand well during roasting, which is beneficial for roasting, and the quality is more stable.

Currently, coffee-producing countries that adopt this grading standard include Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and other Central and South American countries. Taking Guatemala as an example, the highest grade of coffee is called SHB (Strictly Hard Bean), grown at altitudes above 1350m, followed by HB (Hard Bean) grown at altitudes of 1200-1400m, SH (Semi Hard Bean), EPW (Extra Prime Washed), PW (Prime Washed), EGW (Extra Good Washed), and GW (Good Washed), with respective growing altitudes of 1200m, around 1000m, around 800m, 600-800m, and below 600m. Previously, we also specifically discussed Guatemala's grading on our official account.

Knowledge point: "Arabica" is not synonymous with good coffee. Even among Arabica varieties, there are grade differences.

FrontStreet Coffee's Philosophy

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a specialty coffee research hall, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation only to let more friends fall in love with coffee. Every month, there are three low-discount coffee activities because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends drink the best coffee at the lowest price. This has also been FrontStreet Coffee's principle for the past 6 years!