Harvest Season
| Varietal(s) | Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai |
|---|---|
| Processing | Fully Washed + Swiss Water Process decaffeination |
Guatemala has been growing coffee on volcanoes for over 150 years. There are 37 volcanoes in the country, three of them active, and the coffee farms climb their flanks from the Pacific coastal plain to the edge of the cloud forest. The soil is volcanic ash and pumice — free-draining, mineral-dense, the kind of growing medium that produces coffee with structural integrity.
This lot is a regional blend from the central highlands. The altitude ranges from 1,350 to 2,000 meters, and the varieties are the classic Central American triad: Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai. The grade is SHB — Strictly Hard Bean — Anacafé’s highest altitude classification.
The Swiss Water Process is the gentlest commercial decaffeination method available, and it is the reason this coffee still tastes like Guatemala instead of warm cardboard. The process uses no chemical solvents — no methylene chloride, no ethyl acetate. It relies entirely on water, temperature, time, and a saturated green coffee extract to draw caffeine out of the bean through osmosis. The green beans are soaked to create a flavor-charged solution, which is then passed through carbon filters engineered to trap caffeine molecules while allowing the larger, more complex flavor compounds to flow through. The beans are re-soaked in that flavor-rich water, and over the course of eight to ten hours, the caffeine migrates out while the solubles that define Guatemala stay.
Guatemalan SHB is built on chocolate, caramelized sugar, and a clean citrus brightness — flavors with structural weight, compounds that live deep in the bean. The volcanic minerality of the soil translates into density in the cup.
Guatemalan coffee from the central highlands is typically rounded and chocolate-forward, with orange acidity rather than the sharper citrus of a Kenyan or Ethiopian lot.
When we roast this, we taste dark chocolate, orange, and toasted almond, with caramel in the middle and a whisper of brown spice on the edges. The body is medium and smooth. The finish is chocolate-forward with a lingering citrus echo.
We Roast It This Way
We roast it this way: to a Medium Dark roast. This is a specialty-grade green coffee. We recommend targeting 400–420°F charge temperature and aiming for City+ to Full City for a balanced cup that honours the origin character. First crack typically appears around 385–395°F (varies by roaster type and drum speed). Development time: 1:00–1:45 after first crack.
Medium-dark — decaf beans are more porous and take heat faster, so we push just into second crack to deepen the chocolate while holding back enough to let the orange brightness and almond nuttiness survive. Guatemalan SHB has the density to handle the extra development
