Nueva Montaña

Guatemala

Nueva Montaña

Floral violet aromas and blueberry

One of our picks of this year’s Guatemalan harvest; this natural Maracaturra showcases floral violet and ripe blueberry.

Antonio Gonzalez has a focus on processing on his family’s farm.

Producer
Antonio Gonzalez
Available as bundle:
Highlights of Guatemala

Regular price: $22.00
incl. vat/tax
Sale price: $22.00
incl. vat/tax
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The Fraijanes region

This lot from Antonio Gonzalez’ farm in the Fraijanes region is returning favourite, once again standing out on the cupping table during our Guatemalan buying. Fraijanes is much further south than Huehuetenango, where many of the Guatemalan lots we buy are grown. The region lies much closer to the Guatemalan capital Guatemala City, so has felt the effects of urbanisation, with higher costs of production and rising land values leading to some difficulty in maintaining a profitable coffee farm.

La Nueva Montaña

Antonio’s farm, La Nueva Montaña, is a great example of the work that’s possible in the region, leading a move towards higher quality and differentiation in order to maintain his family business. Together with his wife Eby Samayoa, Antonio has worked particularly hard on improving processing; intentionally creating expressions in the cup through careful use of fermentation. For the future, they hope to improve their agronomic practices to match this work, but these changes take time, gradually honing a new approach and allowing plants to adjust over several harvest seasons. For now, they work to minimise environmental contamination, and share their experience with surrounding farmers, giving tips on removing reliance on chemical inputs, making sure they too can have a successful and profitable business.

The Maracaturra varietal

This particular lot is of the Maracaturra varietal, a cross between Maragogype, known for its large bean size, and the more widely used Caturra. They see their focus on these high end lots as a learning opportunity, allowing their experience to trickle down and improve the rest of their work.

Floral violet aromas and blueberry

This lot is a great example, pre-fermented in sealed plastic bags overnight for 14 hours, ready to be laid out on raised beds to dry the next day. This pre-fermentation gives a much greater deal of control over the final result, consuming a great deal of sugar under controlled conditions, before the cherries are laid out to dry open to the elements. The anoxic conditions also favour a bacterial fermentation, leading to the formation of lactic acid, and reducing the risk of yeast-driven alcoholic fermentation and the ‘boozy’ flavours it brings. The fermentation of this lot holds onto a juicy profile, with notes of ripe blueberry, while adding complex aromatics of violet atop a rich brown sugar sweetness.

Technical Data

Producer
Antonio Gonzalez
Region
Fraijanes
Altitude
1800 masl
Varietal
Maracaturra
Process
Natural
Harvest
January 2023

Natural Process

The natural, or dry process, is the traditional process, going back generations. When accomplished in a controlled and careful manner, dry processed coffees can produce flavour experiences not found in wet processed coffees, deep fruits and florals, normally with heavier mouthfeel and lower acidity. The cherries are first sorted, and then laid out on in thin layers (2-6 cm) on raised drying beds. These are almost always used for high quality naturals, as they aid airflow around the coffee as it dries, enabling more even drying.

It is very important that coffees are sorted very carefully early on in the drying process, as all of the cherries quickly turn dark brown, making it impossible to separate under and overripe cherries. The cherries are turned frequently to avoid mold formation or over-fermentation, until they reach a moisture content of below 20%, and the outer cherry layer shrinks and blackens. This process takes between 2 and 4 weeks, depending on weather conditions.