Tasting Notes: Blackberry Jam, Cacao Nibs, Tropical Fruit
Roast level 02: Light/Medium
On the first sip, you will be greeted to a fruity and complex flavor profile that is unique and exciting. Throughout the cup you will taste chocolate notes, think cacao nibs, but is balanced nicely with fruit forward flavors. Deep notes of juicy blackberry carry this coffee from beginning to end, followed by a tropical fruit finish that is vibrant and oh so delicious.
Farmer: Various Smallholders
Origin: Guatemala
Region: Ayarza - Santa Rosa
Farm: Ayarza Cherry Mill
Altitude: 1400 - 2000 MASL
Processing: Natural
Varietal: Catuai, Anacafe 14, Pache, Bourbon, San Ramon
This coffee comes from: Various smallholder farmers. The focus of the producers in the Santa Rosa region is to produce and sell cherries, unlike Huehuetenango which sells coffee only as processed dry parchment. As with origins around the world: you can’t talk about coffee without talking about culture and how that blends with the environment. The region of Santa Rosa has the perfect amount of rainfall to produce coffee (1,600 - 2,000 mm/year), which conveniently falls mostly when the coffee needs it to grow. During the harvest the region is very dry. This gives the coffee a chance to ripen slowly on the tree and the farmers a chance to pick it with little threat from the rain. Small farmers do not have a micro-wet mill in house to process their own coffee and during the harvest season water is scarce, hence the coffee culture is one of selling cherries to one of the few wet mills to process their coffee.
The region of Ayarza is a special one, landmarked by the drastic landscape and cold blue water from the Laguna de Ayarza and Laguna Azul. The lake was formed by two massive volcanoes that collapsed and formed a large crater. The legends surrounding this lake are numerous like the one that says the bottom has never been found. There is a large white rock that resembles a petrified woman who didn’t follow the orders of Jesus. In short, there are simply too many good stories about Ayarza to do it Justice!
Covoya Guatemala always knew the region had massive potential to produce specialty coffee, but the cups that we found were usually solid but unsurprising. Four years ago we rented a wet mill at 1,500 meters on a RFA certified farm. The quality coming from our washed coffee was much better than we expected. Next we tried the honey and maceration processes.
The best cherries from smallholders in the region are delivering coffee in their own pickup trucks. Cherries are sent to Amatitilan for drying, the coffee starts for 10 days on the patio. To finish the coffee is mechanically dried for 5-10 hours.
