Chocolate, Blackberry, Raspberry

Guatemala

Sololá, Lake Atitlán, The Tolimán, San Pedro and Atitlán Volcanos

Washed

Light

Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra

Espresso, Filter

In the forest strewn landscapes of the picturesque Sololá department of Guatemala lays lake Atitlán. The rich volcanic soils surrounding are shrouded by three volacanos which are home to 26 smallholder producers – the “El Paraíso Tz’utujil” cooperative.  They faced challenges such as lack of adequate technical support, lack of investment, low prices and lack of transparency in the supply stream. Through an ever-evolving movement toward better coffee, they have slowly overcome most of these. Working with coffee buyers that offer a good price and transparency has allowed them to invest into market and agronomic research, reducing coffee plantation diseases and improving pest control.

Their coffee is processed with a clear purpose in mind – a clean red fruit flavour is desired. To achieve this, cherries are macerated for 12 hours before pulping; this is followed by a 36 hour wet fermentation. Fermentation tanks are covered to protect the cherries from the weather, and to give the farmers closer control over the fermentation. Finally, after washing the cherries are dried for five hours on patios and then 10-15 days on plastic sheets.

With excellent flavour separation, each flavour in this coffee sings. Expect an enveloping chocolate sweetness, with bright pops of wild blackberry and raspberry. Like dipping berries into a chocolate fountain, this coffee will bring you joy with each sip.

Espresso: 18g dose of coffee to make 50g of espresso in 25-28s. This makes a double shot. Our recipe makes approximately 2.5g of espresso for every 1g coffee used.

Filter: We like to use V60 for this coffee:

• Add a filter paper to the V60 and pre-wet the filter paper under the tap. Heat your kettle – we find that 97°C water works best for this coffee.
• Add 22g of medium-coarse sized coffee grounds to the V60 and place it on your cup (350ml capacity minimum). Set your cup onto some scales and set their reading to zero.
• Shake the V60 to level the grounds, start a timer, and gently pour 66g of water in concentric circles on top of the coffee grounds.
• After 45 seconds, pour more water in concentric circles onto the coffee until the scale weight reaches 250g. This pour should finish at 1 minute.
• At 1 minute 30 seconds, pour the last of the water in concentric circles onto the coffee until the scale weight reaches 350g.

The best recipe for any coffee depends on the equipment, water and preparation being used to make it. We encourage you to experiment and fine tune our suggestions to your preferences.