Guatemala

Las Gardenias Washed

Sweet dried fruit from Huehuetenango

Grown in a vibrant native forest, this deeply sweet and balanced lot is composed of 100% Bourbon.

A deeply sweet washed Bourbon, with a heavy dried fruit sweetness and a brown sugar finish.

Producer
Eddy Lopez
Coffee expression
A sweet & balanced coffee

Regular price: $22.00
incl. vat/tax
Sale price: $22.00
incl. vat/tax
Regular price: ~~$22.00~~
Unit price: per

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Taste description

This lot has a deep dried fruit sweetness, a crisp malic acidity, and a finish of rich brown sugar.

Washed

Las Gardenias

This lot was grown by Eddy Lopez in Huehuetenango, a region we have become rather familiar with over the past few harvest seasons. However, Eddy’s farm Las Gardenias is located near the town of Malacatancito, further south than many of the other producers we have worked with, and not far from the regional capital, Huehuetenango City. The climate here is similar, but there is far greater access to resources and knowledge, allowing Eddy to establish a very different business to those seen in rural northern Huehuetenango. He has a larger farm, and has been able to invest in environmental measures and unique varietals in order to differentiate himself from other farmers in the region. The local environment is carefully preserved, with native shade trees, and minimal chemical inputs used. He has been able to conserve the habitat of local wildlife on the farm, including that of Guatemala’s national bird, the Quetzal. Eddy has even invested in certifications in order to cement his environmental work, recently having achieved Rainforest Alliance status on the farm.

This lot is of the Bourbon, known for its sweet and rich cups. Single varietal lots are rather seldom seen in Huehuetenango, where rural farmers often grow mixed varietals on their farms. Another way Eddy differentiates himself is through processing; we have purchased natural and honey lots from Eddy in the past, and this year have also added a more traditional washed lot.

Eddy takes biodiversity and organic principles seriously, building a balanced eco-system with native shade trees.

Guatemala

Huehuetenango

Huehuetenango is located in the north-western highlands of Guatemala, and borders with Mexico. It is home to the highest altitudes in all of Central America, due to the presence of the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes mountain range, which peaks at 3837 masl. This creates lots of high altitude land to grow high-quality coffee, an important crop in an area where agriculture is the largest industry. A dry hot wind also blows in from the Tehuantepec plain in Mexico to the north, which protects crops from frost, allowing coffee to grow even higher up the slopes, often above 2000 masl. These high altitudes also lead to very beautiful scenery, something the area is known for, but also to a remoteness not found elsewhere in Guatemala. 9 different ancient Mayan dialects are still spoken here, and the region is home to some of the best preserved examples of Mayan architecture.

The remoteness also makes sourcing coffee a challenge here, the journey to farms often takes days over unforgiving terrain, and would-be coffee buyers require knowledge of the local dialects, or an experienced guide. We have visited our Guatemalan partners at Primavera for the past six years, and have been stunned by the beauty of both the coffees they have been sourcing, and of this captivating region.

Technical Data

Producer
Eddy Lopez
Region
Huehuetenango
Altitude
1900 masl
Varietal
Bourbon
Process
Washed
Harvest
March 2022

Washed Process

The washed process involves completely removing both the cherry and the mucilage from the outside of the parchment with the use of friction, fermentation and water. After being harvested, the coffee cherry is then sliced open by either a metal or a sharp plastic blade.

The two seeds (also known as beans) are pushed out of the cherry, which leaves the seed with mucilage as their outermost layer. It is essential in the washed process that all mucilage is removed from the seed which leaves only the flavour that developed in the cell structure of the seed prior to processing.