Description of Rich-Flavored Guatemalan Specialty Coffee Beans: Flavor, Taste, and Aroma Characteristics

FrontStreet Coffee: Guatemalan Premium Coffee Beans, Flavor, Taste and Aroma Characteristics

FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemalan Antigua coffee is sought after by most coffee enthusiasts for one reason: its distinctive aroma. Grown on volcanic slopes, it retains more character than Costa Rican coffee, mainly thanks to superior geographic and climatic advantages. Lying in the tropics, Guatemala is mild because of its high altitude and belongs to a subtropical climate zone. Under these conditions coffee trees flower and bear fruit more slowly than in other parts of the world. The mild climate, combined with fertile soil, creates the perfect environment for coffee.

The coffee industry run by the Maya once made Guatemala's economy prosperous and held a dominant place in the national economy. Unfortunately, the country's political situation was not favourable to those growers. High yield is usually a sign of overall economic prosperity, but Guatemala's coffee production has relatively declined, at only 700 kilograms per hectare, while El Salvador produces 900 kilograms per hectare and Costa Rica an astonishing 1,700 kilograms per hectare. Guatemala's coffee export trade is controlled by private companies, while the National Coffee Committee controls other parts of the industry.

Today, some of Guatemala's highest quality coffee is exported to Japan, where each cup sells for $3-4. To revitalise its coffee industry, Guatemala has established a Specialty Coffee Association to give these high-quality coffees maximum support and attention. Those efforts will soon show results, and the true beneficiaries will be not only the growers but coffee lovers worldwide.

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee Guatemala Santa Ana

Country of Origin: Guatemala

Region: Santa Rosa

Variety: Bourbon, Yellow Caturra, Red Caturra

Altitude: 1585-1645 Meters

Processing Method: Washed

Flavor Description: Rich, good body, with plum and red wine flavors and a long aftertaste.

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee Guatemala Finca La Victori

Country of Origin: Guatemala

Region: Santa Rosa Barberena

Variety: Pache, Caturra

Altitude: 1500-1700 Meters

Processing Method: Washed + Triple Special Soaking

Flavor Description: Chocolate and caramel, with a long aftertaste, typical of Guatemalan coffee.

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee Capetillo Estate

Country of Origin: Guatemala

Region: Antigua

Variety: Bourbon

Altitude: 1500-1700 Meters

Processing Method: Natural

Flavor Description: A very particular citrus fruit aroma, wine-like flavor, rich in layers, with a smooth mouthfeel and excellent balance.

The aroma of coffee is free of all form, soul and national boundary. Through coffee the mood can take off at any time and land in a foreign country half a world away, so that even across vast distances one can share a state of mind. The city of Antigua was the capital during the Spanish colonial period in 1543. Although this emerald-like valley has been surrounded since ancient times by towering, layered, dormant and perilous active volcanoes, its vastness, breadth and fertility still tempted the Spanish to establish their capital in that precarious cliff valley.

The volcano once destroyed this originally prosperous capital in an instant, taking away all its prosperity and beauty overnight. After that upheaval the mountain city lost 200 years of splendour, and Antigua never walked proudly again. Having returned to simplicity, Antigua is now diligently tended by the hardworking Indians who remained. These industrious, resilient people became the later coffee producers. They not only discovered the rich, enticing and unique aroma of FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemalan Antigua coffee but also brought it to people worldwide.

Today Antigua coffee enjoys a reputation as one of the world's finest, praised by connoisseurs as the most outstanding and distinctive coffee there is. FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemalan coffee has a powerful aroma; even without drinking it, smelling it is a pleasure. FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemalan Antigua has a rich, velvety body, an intense and lively aroma and delicate acidity. When that enticing richness lingers on the palate it holds an indescribable mystery. At the first sip it may seem plain, but as the coffee slowly cools you discover its subtle sweetness and are surprised by its depth.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Guatemalan coffee is your entry into specialty coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's range of approachable single origins is a natural place to explore next. The Ethiopia Huakui is one of the most successful standouts of recent years, with strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit and even lychee on the nose, obvious sweetness and almost no bitterness, juicy and smooth enough that drinkers call it the coffee that does not taste like coffee, which makes it a good choice for anyone who dislikes traditional bitterness. The washed Yirgacheffe Gedeb, from the Woka area, is the other classic starting point, with jasmine, lemon-citrus acidity and berry notes and a green-tea sweetness, and its acidity is soft and bright rather than sharp.

For a Brazilian style at an easy price, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Cerrado coffee is an entry-level single origin from the country's best-known region, with the typical cream, peanut and cocoa flavours. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate grows at a higher altitude and is the rare Yellow Bourbon variety, adding the butter, seed and macadamia nut aroma typical of Brazil plus a sugarcane sweetness, and it drinks well both on its own and with milk, with a thick, smooth texture.

On the Indonesian side, FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling uses the wet-hulled process that grew out of the local climate, and the cup is heavier and smoother than FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain, with herbal and spice notes, which suits anyone who dislikes acidity. For a higher grade, the PWN Golden Mandheling goes through three rounds of hand selection and one machine sort to bring the defect rate as low as possible, so the cup is cleaner and smoother with clearer wood and caramel notes.