Expert Guide: Guatemala's Coffee Growing Regions & Bean Flavor Profiles

Although Guatemala is located in the tropics, its high altitude creates a mild climate with fertile volcanic soil and suitable humidity, making it an ideal place for coffee cultivation and one of the world's premier coffee-producing regions. Coffee is primarily grown in the southern regions of Guatemala, where excellent microclimates produce full-bodied, delicious coffee beans with balanced acidity. More than half of these are high-quality, specialty-grade beans.

Geographically, Guatemala borders Mexico to the north, Honduras and El Salvador to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. This unique location encompasses both mountains and seas, featuring tropical rainforests, volcanic geology, highland valleys, and diverse microclimates. Two-thirds of Guatemala's terrain consists of mountains and plateaus, covered by equatorial forests and plains, with rivers and lakes scattered throughout. The western and southern regions belong to the volcanic zone, containing 34 volcanoes. Guatemala's coffee beans have earned global recognition for their exceptional quality, thanks to the unique conditions of their growing regions. These include varying climate patterns in each region, fertile volcanic soil, abundant natural water resources, high-altitude mountains, and shaded, humid forests.

Guatemala has eight main coffee-producing regions: Huehuetenango, Antigua, Atitlan, Acatenango, Coban, Nuevo Oriente, Fraijanes, and San Marcos.

Coffee beans from each region possess their own distinct characteristics, earning Guatemala considerable international acclaim. The Antigua region, in particular, produces coffee with a perfectly balanced texture of acidity, sweetness, and body, complemented by a subtle smoky flavor that enhances its mysterious appeal. Approximately every 30 years, the area around Antigua experiences volcanic eruptions, which enrich the already fertile soil with additional nitrogen. Ample rainfall and sunshine make this location even more suitable for coffee cultivation.

Here, the slopes of the Sierra Madre volcano provide ideal conditions for growing premium coffee beans, where coffee thrives at high altitudes. Compared to beans from other regions, connoisseurs particularly appreciate the spicy flavor profile of this coffee. The region's strictly hard beans are exceptionally rare—full-bodied, delicious, and with balanced acidity. Consequently, Antigua is Guatemala's most award-winning coffee region and enjoys the highest recognition. FrontStreet Coffee's selection includes the Flor de Café coffee beans, originating from the renowned Antigua region, processed using the washed method and produced by the Alaminita estate.

Besides Antigua, Huehuetenango is also considered by locals to be the finest coffee region. With elevations ranging from 1500-2000 meters, the coffee from this area exhibits bright, delicate acidity, floral notes, fruity aromas, toffee-like sweetness, and exceptionally complex aromas, earning it the title of "Crown of Guatemala Coffee." Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee also features washed Huehuetenango coffee beans as the representative of Guatemala's coffee regions, serving as an introductory daily coffee option.

The Huehuetenango highlands are located in Guatemala's western non-volcanic region, which has the driest climate and highest altitude. Due to its position at the edge of tectonic plate activity, the diverse terroir of this highland basin produces coffee with rich and varied flavors. Dry, hot winds from Mexico blow into the northwest, allowing coffee trees to grow at elevations of 2000 meters. Each country has its own coffee grading standards, and Guatemala's green coffee beans are primarily graded by altitude—the higher the elevation, the denser the coffee beans, and thus the higher the grade. The vast majority of coffee from the Huehuetenango region belongs to the SHB (Strictly Hard Bean) category, which is the highest grade in Guatemala's green coffee classification system.

After harvesting, coffee beans undergo flotation to remove underdeveloped, inferior beans. Next, a pulping machine removes the coffee cherry's skin and pulp, followed by the fermentation stage. The purpose of fermentation is to use microorganisms to separate the mucilage from the inner bean. The coffee beans remain in fermentation tanks for 16-36 hours, after which they must be thoroughly cleaned with large amounts of flowing water. Finally, the inner beans are dried until their moisture content reaches 10-14%. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the washed process not only reduces the defect rate of coffee beans but also produces more consistent quality and higher clarity, making it one of FrontStreet Coffee's preferred processing methods.

Guatemala primarily cultivates varieties such as Typica, Bourbon, Catuai, and Caturra, along with smaller amounts of Gesha and Pacamara, demonstrating varietal diversity. FrontStreet Coffee's Huehuetenango daily coffee selection is a blend of three varieties: Caturra, Catuai, and Bourbon.

FrontStreet Coffee's roasters have chosen a medium roast for this Huehuetenango. When cupping this coffee, one can clearly perceive nutty notes, moderate acidity from the washed processing method, berry-like flavor characteristics as it cools, and medium lemon peel notes. To experience the charm of Guatemalan coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee suggests extraction using pour-over methods to appreciate the rich layered complexity of the coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Pour-over Parameters:

Filter: Hario V60
Coffee dose: 15g
Water temperature: 90°C
Grind size: 75% passing through #20 sieve
Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15

Three-stage pouring: Wet the coffee bed with twice the amount of coffee by weight, forming a dome for a 30-second bloom. Then, using a small stream, pour in concentric circles from inside to out until reaching 125g, pausing as the coffee bed drops to half the filter's height. Continue with the same fine stream for the third stage to 225g, until all coffee liquid has filtered through. Remove the filter cup—total time should be approximately 2 minutes.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473