The Story of Guatemala Antigua Coffee Beans: Flavor and Taste Characteristics of Antigua Region's La Flor Coffee

The Flavor Characteristics of Guatemala Coffee

The flavor characteristics of Guatemalan Antigua coffee are rich and full-bodied with tobacco notes. On the menus of high-end coffee shops, Guatemalan Antigua coffee is indispensable in the "single-origin coffee" section. Those who love it always remember its special smoky aroma. Coffee brought prosperity to Guatemala, and to this day, coffee continues to influence Guatemala's economy.

Guatemala's growing environment consists of volcanic soil, which gives Guatemalan coffee beans a smoky flavor in their finish. This is the unique taste of Guatemalan coffee. Antigua coffee has a smooth mouthfeel with a slight charcoal-like flavor within its mellow richness, much like the sweetness of chocolate mixed with smoky notes. This charcoal aroma is thanks to nearby volcanoes that erupt every 30 years, allowing coffee trees to fully absorb the nitrogen released during volcanic eruptions. Due to this unique charcoal aroma, Antigua coffee is also known as "cigar coffee." In fact, coffee produced in volcanic regions of other countries also contains similar smoky flavors, but none have the pure aroma of Antigua coffee.

Antigua City

Antigua is the oldest and most beautiful city in the Americas. As early as 1543, Antigua was the capital of all colonial Central America, and the Spanish governor's palace was also established here. After the great earthquake of 1773, Antigua was completely destroyed, so the capital was moved to Guatemala City. Antigua is located about 40 kilometers west of Guatemala City. The colonial-era buildings were damaged by earthquakes but were preserved in their post-earthquake state, making it a living historical museum. Antigua coffee is produced on Antigua Island, where coffee is grown on the slopes of volcanic interiors, naturally growing with ample rain, dew, and sunlight. Although this emerald-like valley has been surrounded by active volcanoes from all directions—layered, poised, and perilous—its vastness, breadth, and fertility still tempted the Spanish to build their capital in this precarious valley.

The Story of Antigua Coffee Beans

Guatemala became a Spanish colony in the 16th century. During colonial rule, most precious Mayan civilization was destroyed. Guatemala declared independence in 1821, and to develop its economy, coffee became an important export cash crop for Guatemala.

Antigua coffee can be traced back to Mayan civilization. Due to volcanic eruptions, the soil here became more nutritious, and abundant sunlight and moisture also resulted in excellent coffee quality. Most importantly, the residents here insist on planting Arabica Bourbon varieties, which though lower in yield, have superior quality. Because residents of Antigua Island grow coffee on a large scale, they are accustomed to harvesting all at once and using ancient natural processing methods. People pick both ripe and unripe fruits together, even mixing leaves among them, and spread them under the sun for exposure. Being spread on the ground for long periods, coffee beans easily absorb impurities from the soil, often resulting in peculiar salty flavors. General coffee enthusiasts often cannot tolerate this strange taste, but those accustomed to it greatly enjoy it. The income of coffee farmers on Antigua Island is very meager. Yet they themselves say: even though poor, because of coffee, they still feel happy.

Volcanoes once destroyed this prosperous capital in an instant, taking away all its prosperity and beauty overnight. After this turmoil, 200 years of splendor vanished, and Antigua never regained its proud stride. After returning to simplicity, Antigua is now diligently managed by the remaining hardworking Indians. These industrious and strong Indians became later coffee producers. They not only discovered the rich and enticing unique aroma of Antigua coffee but also brought it to people worldwide. Today, Antigua coffee enjoys the reputation of being among the world's best-quality coffees and is praised by coffee connoisseurs as the world's finest and most distinctive coffee. The reason Antigua coffee is pursued by most coffee enthusiasts is simply its unique aroma. Because it is grown on volcanic mountains, compared to Costa Rica, it better preserves its characteristics, mainly due to its greater geographical and climatic advantages. Guatemala is located in the tropics, but due to its high altitude, it has a mild climate, truly subtropical. Under this climate's influence, coffee trees flower and fruit more slowly than coffee trees in other parts of the world. However, the mild climate combined with fertile soil creates an excellent environment for growing coffee.

The coffee industry managed by the Maya once brought prosperity to Guatemala's economy and occupied a dominant position in the national economy. Unfortunately, Guatemala's internal political situation was not favorable to these coffee growers. High yield is usually a sign of overall economic prosperity in a country. However, Guatemala's coffee production has relatively declined, with only 700 kg per hectare, while El Salvador's yield is 900 kg per hectare, and Costa Rica's yield is even more astonishing, reaching 1700 kg per hectare. Guatemala's coffee export trade is controlled by private companies, but the National Coffee Committee controls other sectors of the coffee industry. Finally, the Maya disappeared, but they left behind remarkable coffee for the world.

Antigua Growing Region

Unlike countries such as Colombia and Brazil, Guatemala has a small land area, but it has multiple coffee-growing regions within its borders. Among them, Antigua, Huehuetenango, Cobán, Lake Atitlán, Fraijanes Plateau, San Marcos Volcano, and Acatenango are all important coffee-producing regions in Guatemala.

The Antigua growing region is surrounded by three volcanoes in southern Guatemala: Agua, Fuego, and Acatenango. Antigua has low rainfall in summer and occasional frost in winter, but fortunately, it is located in an active volcanic zone. After volcanic eruptions, volcanic pumice falls into the soil and cools. Because this pumice has many fine pores, it is very good at retaining moisture. Additionally, the large number of shade trees planted in the estates protects coffee trees from cold damage in winter. Combined with the significant temperature difference between day and night brought by high altitude, this area forms a unique microclimate. FrontStreet Coffee has a Flor de Café coffee bean from the Alaminuta estate in the Antigua region, processed using the washed method.

Alaminuta Estate

Alaminuta is famous for its excellent cultivation, processing techniques, and extremely strict quality control. They commission Las Pastores, the largest washed processing plant in the Antigua area, to process their green beans to super high standards and name the coffee Flor de Café. In addition to preserving the original regional flavors, the dry aroma carries rich floral and tea notes. After tasting, lime acidity and berry flavors emerge, then transform into a honey finish. Excellent cleanliness and rich layering are the characteristics of this Flor de Café.

Alaminuta estate places great emphasis on organic cultivation. Due to the geographical advantage of high altitude and unique climate that limits pest populations, they do not use pesticides in cultivation. The small number of pests does not cause significant harm to coffee trees, but harvesting requires careful handling. At Alaminuta estate, as the rainy season ends, coffee fruits also begin to ripen. Green fruits start turning red, but coffee fruit ripening is very slow and uneven, unlike the rapid and consistent flowering. Therefore, harvesting work must be handled more carefully.

To ensure excellent quality, the estate only harvests fully ripe deep red fruits. The estate conducts soil testing twice a year to determine fertilization frequency and dosage, providing more nutrients to coffee trees and preventing disease. Such scientific cultivation management has created the excellent flavor performance of Flor de Café coffee and maintained consistent quality over the years. The estate guarantees soil quality for producing premium coffee beans and fertilizes about 3 times a year. Additionally, Alaminuta applies trace element fertilizers such as zinc, boron, and copper to provide more nutrients to coffee trees and prevent disease.

Flor de Café Coffee Bean Varieties

The varieties of Guatemala's Flor de Café are mainly Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai. Bourbon and Typica are both ancient, high-quality coffee varieties with pure flavors and moderate sweetness and acidity. Caturra has a taste with lemon or citrus acidity, but in terms of sweetness, it doesn't match Typica and Bourbon. Caturra's sweetness depends on the grower's fertilization frequency and dosage. It has high productivity, but to maintain productivity, continuous fertilization and pruning are required, resulting in short trees with many branches. Although productivity increases, because the harvest period takes 2 years and cultivation costs are higher, yield is still somewhat limited.

Flor de Café Coffee Bean Processing Method

Like other American coffee-producing countries, Guatemala favors the washed processing method, which is also very popular among American producing countries. For producers, the biggest difference between washed and natural processing methods is the ability to process coffee beans stably and in large quantities while achieving better green bean quality. FrontStreet Coffee believes that washed-processed coffee beans have a cleaner taste than natural-processed ones and can better express local flavors. This is also why most of FrontStreet Coffee's daily coffee beans choose washed processing.

The washed processing steps involve using water flow to float and select harvested coffee fruits with sufficient density. Next, machines remove the coffee fruit's skin and pulp. Coffee beans that complete this step are placed in fermentation tanks for fermentation, where the mucilage layer is decomposed through fermentation. Then clean water is used to wash away the decomposed mucilage and residual pulp. Finally, the coffee beans are dried in the sun until moisture content reaches about 11%, at which point they can be stored. The washed processing method also gives this Flor de Café coffee higher acidity and a cleaner flavor profile.

FrontStreet Coffee's Approach to Roasting Flor de Café Coffee Beans

Guatemalan coffee beans naturally have the characteristic nut and cocoa notes of Latin America, with light floral aromas and soft fruit acidity. FrontStreet Coffee uses a medium-light roast method to preserve more floral and fruit aromas, clean and bright acidity, while enhancing richness and balance.

FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemala Coffee Brewing Parameters

Medium-light roasted coffee beans have a lower dissolution rate than dark-roasted ones. FrontStreet Coffee suggests using a V60 dripper with faster flow rate, higher water temperature, and finer grind size. FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-fine grinding (granulated sugar consistency, 80% pass-through rate with China #20 standard sieve). Using 15g of coffee grounds, paired with a V60 dripper, 91°C water temperature, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, and a three-stage pouring method for brewing.

Using three-stage extraction, bloom with twice the amount of water as coffee grounds—that is, 30g of water for 30 seconds. The blooming process is necessary to allow coffee grounds to release internal carbon dioxide gas, making subsequent extraction more stable. Pour in a small circular stream until reaching 125g, then continue pouring to 225g and stop. Once the water has finished dripping from the dripper, remove it. Time starts from the beginning of pouring, with extraction time of 2'00". Next, pick up the entire cup of coffee and shake it well, then pour into cups for tasting.

Guatemala Flor de Café Coffee Flavor Characteristics

Berry acidity, citrus, light chocolate, rich layering, smooth mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee's Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Regarding coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans greatly affects coffee flavor. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee ships all coffee beans within 5 days of roasting. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at peak flavor.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee kindly reminds: once coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for resting, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide in the packaging also helps mellow the coffee flavor, so you can immediately brew a cup when you receive the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly because it oxidizes quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate faster and won't be as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends buying whole beans and grinding fresh for each brew to better experience the coffee's flavor.

Important Notice :

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