Tag: Guatemala
Stumptown Coffee Roasters Guatemala Bella Carmona
Lately, my coffee thoughts have been turned to ideas of seasonality. I’ve become curious about how seasonality affects the coffees available to roasters, what the seasons for coffee are, who is harvesting where and when, and whether each region (Africa, Latin America, etc.) harvests all of their varietals at one time, or if there are multiple harvests in a given year (in a given place).
As consumers, we’re seldom given much insight into the seasonal nature of coffee. Yet, as an agricultural product, coffee is based on the progress of a plant throughout the course of a specific growing season. It is not uncommon for roasters to offer coffees from Ethiopia, Kenya, or Colombia year-round, as though the coffee harvests in these places never ends.
Contrast this with wine, a similar agricultural product, whose production and marketing are heavily vintage-driven. Bottles of wine are labeled with the year that the grapes were grown in, alongside information about where the grapes were grown. Vintages are assessed, evaluated, and prognosticated upon on a country-by-country, region-by-region basis. Year-to-year vintages are evaluated relative to one another, and prices rise and fall accordingly. In the case of wines such as vintage Port, Sauternes, or Bordeaux, the wines are tasted while still maturing in barrels, evaluated long before they are bottled.
With rare exceptions, the specialty coffee world has done little in this regard. If you look at the information accompanying a coffee from Barrington Coffee Roasters, they will tell you roughly when the beans were harvested (e.g. “2009 crop (late 2009 harvest)”. Intelligentsia at one point had a website at the url inseason.com, that would tell you which coffees they were offering from the most recent harvest. This has now been folded into their existing website, and is featured somewhat prominently on their home page. Stumptown, who produced this coffee, will sometimes include information about when a coffee harvest.
This is a small sample of the finest specialty coffee roasters in the country, and the treatment given the notion of seasonality is highly uneven. I can guess at some of the reasons for this, but I have to admit to not knowing the full story. It is one mystery of coffee production that I would love to learn more about.
But, I do think it’s reasonable to expect producers such as these to include more (and more consistent) information about the seasonal nature of their coffees. Especially in the case of their small-lot, single-origin coffees, where they often include several pieces of information about provenance, varietal(s), processing methods, etc. Including information about the harvest strikes me as a logical step from here.
Just imagine how cool it would be to go to a roaster’s site and be able to learn information about that season’s harvest in Africa, Indonesia, Latin America, etc. Hearing how the many growers they work with coped with the seasons and harvest, and how the unique elements of that year’s growing season(s) play out in the cup. To read knowledgeable comparisons of one vintage of Kenyan coffee versus another. In particular, this would help to elucidate the benefits of one growing area versus another in the same season. For example, we could learn why higher-altitude slopes produce better coffee relative to lower slopes, and whether growing coffee at this location serves as a buffer against an especially warm growing season (e.g. “the unusually warm temperatures in the Nyeri region led to early ripening for coffees on the lower slopes, whereas those at higher altitudes ripened more slowly and steadily, resulting in cherries that were at the perfect stride of maturity when the harvest began”). For an example, check out this harvest report from Ridge’s Monte Bello vineyard. Doesn’t that description of the growing season get you excited to try the wines, to see how the growing season plays out in their finished wine?
In the end, here are the things I’m most interested in regarding coffee and seasonality:
- What are the typical growing seasons for each country, and do they differ by region within a specific country?
- When are coffee cherries typically harvested in each country, and what factors influence an earlier or later harvest season?
- How are different growing areas and conditions affected by seasonal weather patterns? How do current plantings reflect responses to the weather each coffee producing region experiences?
- How do vintages relate to one another? Are vintages consistent year-to-year in terms of quality? Quantity? If not, how do they differ?
- Can coffees from all vintages/countries/varietals improve with age? Or only coffees from especially good vintages/countries/varietals? (I’m looking at you Barrington Coffee to help with this question…)
I’m sure there are other questions, but those seem like good starting points!
Tasting Notes
The Bella Carmona wet mill that produced the coffee I’m writing about here, is situated in Antigua, at a mid-level elevation of 1500-1650 meters above sea level. Antigua is located in central Guatemala, a ways south-east from Huehuetenango, one of the country’s other prominent coffee growing regions. Because of its lower elevation, relative to Huehuetenango, coffees from this region are typically harvested earlier, and arrive in roasters’ hands earlier than those from other regions in the country.
The Zelaya family purchased the Bella Carmona wet mill in 1908, and it is currently owned third generation coffee farmer Maria Zelaya. Stumptown works closely with the mill to source some of their more notable Guatemalan coffees.
In this case, they received coffees from several farms surrounding the mill, and assembled this coffee by blending the beans together in varying quantities. The farms are located in the Duenas, Ciudad Vieja, and Alotenango counties on the slopes of the Volcan de Agua. Here the coffees are grown under a canopy of Gravilea trees. Once harvested, they are transferred to the mill, mechanically washed, and then dried on raised patios.
The Actual Tasting Notes
The nose is bright with floral citrus notes, milk chocolate, and herbal notes of lavender and heather. The mouthfeel is lithe with glittering, welcoming acidity. The flavors are bright and lively, with a sweet undertone. Orange zest and candied lemon contrast nicely with nutty flavors of light caramel and melted chocolate, underscored by a hint of berryish flavors. The finish is dry and citrusy.
This is a great afternoon coffee, full of the bright flavors that I associate with Latin American coffees, brought out well by the light/medium roast that Stumptown used. When I ordered this it was the only Latin American coffee that they were offering. Since then (only a week ago), they’ve added a couple more Guatemalan coffees, so it looks like they’re receiving and processing more from the most recent harvest. Perhaps this begins to answer some of my speculation about seasonality.
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Gimme Coffee Guatemala Asobagri
This coffee from Gimme Coffee of Ithaca, NY, demonstrates one of the reasons that I’m so drawn to coffees from small(er) roasters such as this. Take a quick glance at Gimme’s page for the Guatemala Asobagri and you’ll see a plethora of information about all of the initiatives that the Asobagri Cooperative is undertaking to improve the lives of its farmers and to their effect on the environment. This is a common theme among many of the producers that Gimme works with, as well as roasters such as Stumptown, Barrington, and others. A big part of the reason for this, is the effort these roasters are making to work with producers who are undertaking these initiatives.
It’s a circle of sorts. The smaller roasters are drawn to the efforts of these cooperatives to produce better coffee, lessen their effect on the environment, and improve the lives of their farmers. In turn, by working with them, and in many cases being willing to pay higher rates for their coffees, the roasters are helping to ensure that the cooperatives can continue these efforts. This is even more explicit in cases where the coffee is sourced directly by the roasters.
The case of Guatemala’s Asobagri Cooperative is especially interesting. The cooperative was founded in 1989 by 20 farmers, and has since grown to encompass 686 members spread throughout four communities. The coop runs workshops in organic production methods for its farmers, and is certified Fair Trade, Organic Crop Improvement Association, and Smithsonian Bird Friendly. The coop offers literacy classes to its member communities, and at this time over 100 members participate in reading and writing workshops, while at the same time the coop invests money in a health fund for its members. And the coop seeks to lessen its members’ impacts on the environment by offering workshops in sustainable agriculture, crop diversification, and apiculture.
That’s an impressive array of initiatives that the coop is undertaking. But, in the end, how does the coffee pan out?
Tasting Notes
The Asobagri Cooperative is located in the Huehuetenango region of Guatemala. The coffee was grown in volcanic soil, under the shade of banana, guava, and plantain trees, and planted among cardamom, banana, and citrus plants. The varietals include bourbon and caturra, that were washed and sun-dried.
The nose has delicate, enticing notes of vanilla, jasmine, and bakers chocolate. The texture is soft and balanced, with a light acidity that stacks up well against the coffee’s flavors of whole wheat toast, table grapes, orange pith, and a hint of rum. The finish is vibrant with citrus rind and and fruit flavors.
Very drinkable, enjoyable coffee. I liked it best in the morning, when its soft texture and weaving of flavors played well together in waking my senses up for the day.
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Intelligentsia Itzamna, Guatemala
Similarly to the Los Inmortales that we enjoyed a great deal last week, this coffee from Intelligentsia is a blend of coffees from a few different farms in an effort to create a coffee that ideally represents the possibilities inherent in Guatemalan beans. In this case it is a blend of beans from the following three farms:
- La Soledad (Acatenango)
- La Maravilla (HueHue)
- El Tambor (Palencia)
In their notes about the coffee they go so far as to cite the characteristics that each coffee brings to the blend:
- La Soledad: rich milk chocolate and butterscotch sweetness
- La Maravilla: energetic ripe fruit acidity
- El Tambor: seductive cocoa flavor
I yet again find myself thinking of the apt comparison of the winemaker blending lots of grapes, or the cognac blender blending the contents of different barrels to achieve their goals: a harmonious blend of – wine, cognac, coffee, whisk(e)y, etc. – that best represents the unique characteristics that each lot brings to the mix. The character that one lot brings must be balanced with another in such a way as to still allow the uniqueness of each to come through. All the while retaining a sense of balance and harmony.
Contrast this (although not in the negative) with the blender bringing together a number of different lots to produce a blend that says what he/she is trying to say (e.g. a roaster’s House or French Roast blend). In this case the blender is trying to achieve a specific flavor profile in the finished product, and the lots that go into it are chosen in order to achieve that. In this case, the uniqueness of a lot is not necessarily a good thing – if it is too unique, too divorced from the flavor profile being sought by the blender, it either won’t go into the blend at all, or only in very small amounts. Being unique is not so much a virtue in this case.
But the Itzamna is a coffee where Intelligentsia is aiming to allow each farm to stand out and bring its own strengths to the finished product. So how does it pan out in the cup?
This coffee is very tea-like. In the nose I get lemons, wool, and a hint of spices. The palate is lightly sweet, with some tart acidity, apples, lemon, and real sense of bergamot, like a hint of Earl Grey just hanging around the edges. And the finish is very mellow, slightly sweet and a lingering hint of fruit.
Thus far, this is not my favorite coffee from Intelligentsia. But that’s not saying much, since all three of the coffees I have had from them have been great. I like this, but it is very subtle, and let’s face it, I don’t think my subtle is very cued into subtlety. I still think I have the kind of palate that needs to be hit over the head in order to pick up flavors.
This coffee reminds me of those that I’ve had from Terroir Coffee, in that it is a light-to-medium roast that really let’s the coffee bean come through, and aims for a super subtle cup, as opposed to the dark roasts that I’ve normally drunk. So I’m still learning how to drink this kind of roast. I like this, but I’m definitely having to become more familiar with the tastes that it offers.
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