Tasting Notes: Red Apple, Caramel, Brown Spice

Process: Washed

Elevation: 1500-1600 masl

Variety: Caturra, Bourbon

On our latest trip to Guatemala, we were on our way to visit one of our long-time producer partners, Flora Ramos, when we were first introduced to her sister, Carmelina, at a small market near San Antonio Huista. She showed us around El Pajal village and shared its history while we walked toward her sister’s home and wet mill. Together, they explained how they have been growing coffee for over 40 years, far surpassing the time specialty coffee has been around. Carmelina told us that she and Flora knew they had very high-quality coffee but had difficulty finding buyers willing to pay the higher prices until the last ten years or so when specialty coffee finally began to offer significantly higher prices. We can attest that, though the village of El Pajal has its challenges, there’s an unexplainable quality that comes from hard work and creative processing. The cupping table never lies, and Carmelina’s coffee shines with sweetness and full-bodied spice. We taste red apple, rich caramel, and brown spice.

Carmelina runs a farm called Los Guayabales (meaning “grove of guava trees”). She is a first-generation coffee producer who lives with her sister, kids, grandkids, and daughters-in-law in the small town of El Pajal. When she was very young, she and her family started farming coffee from scratch, buying parcels of land and then plowing, digging holes for the coffee seedlings, and planting those seedlings. This was done to earn income for the family. Through time and experience, she learned how to cultivate the soil, pick only the ripest cherries, and process the coffee using the limited resources available to her. El Pajal is situated very high up, making it challenging to access running water. Processing washed coffee takes a lot of water. By being creative with how they process one batch at a time and collect water to store, it amazed us how well they have their processes dialed in. The coffee is picked and de-pulped the same day. With no additional water added, it is fermented overnight for at least 12 hours. After washing, it is placed on the patio for about 4 days, sitting in the sun for about 9 hours per day.