Guatemala Antigua Bella Carmona

From Finca Bella Vista in Antigua, the Bella Carmona lot is a microlot by the 4th generation farmer Luis Pedro Zelaya. He got a degree in Agribusiness and experiments with the perfect soil, pruning techniques, pest control, and picking times to grow the best coffee he can.  

 This one should be roasted light to medium. I would recommend that you NOT take it into the second cracks. Antigua is perhaps the most famous coffee growing region in the country and has a great reputation all over the world. Antigua is near the center of the country, just outside the capital of Guatemala City.

I aim for a medium roast -- about half way between first and second cracks. Something like a costa rica profile. At this level, I love the taste and balance. You get floral tastes with milk chocolate. Some acidity, but not screaming at you. Complex. Sweet aftertaste.

Take it 15 seconds into the 2nd cracks, and it starts to burned. Not NECESSARLY bad -- I know some of you love the roasty taste of dark coffee with some chocolate complexity still behind it. But it's hard to drink it after having lighter roasts of it and knowing how much complexity is being lost.

If you roast it too light -- just out of the first cracks -- it's a little vegetal and very bright. Some citrus, lots of floral. Take it about 45 seconds past the end of the 1st cracks and you'll get all kinds of flavor notes. The importer sent along their cupping notes that say "fruit forward, dark chocolate, apple juice, honeysuckle, great body." but when we roasted it, our notes were more like "floral, citrus, milk chocolate, lively acidity, sweet aftertaste" and what that tells me, is that this is a coffee that is going to uncover a wide range of flavors based on how you brew it, and that different nuances will come out based on what kind of roaster you have, how much airflow, how much time you give it, etc. Which is fun!

If you tend to enjoy Guatemala Antigua coffees, don't be afraid of this one. It's pretty much what you would expect from Antigua, just.....even more interesting than usual.

US Arrival May 2020