What Defines the Arabica Coffee Bean of Guatemala

Guatemalan coffee is an arabica coffee bean grown on volcanic soil and shaped by microclimates, giving bright fruity acidity and a smoky note that drinkers nickname cigarette coffee. Cultivation began locally in 1747, Jesuit priests brought trees in 1750, and by 1880 coffee made up 90 percent of the country's export value.

The country is divided into eight producing regions, and lots are graded by bean hardness and growing altitude. Bourbon, Typica, Caturra and Catuai are the main varieties, and washed or natural processing shifts how much fruit and body reaches the cup. Bourbon and Typica both belong to the older Typica coffee lineage still planted across the highlands.

Among the many coffee-producing countries in Latin America, Guatemala stands out with its unique volcanic geology and microclimates, nurturing coffee beans that combine bright fruity acidity with smoky notes, earning it the nickname "cigarette coffee" among coffee lovers. In this article, Front Street Coffee will start with the history of cultivation, systematically review the flavor differences among Guatemala's eight major coffee-producing regions, explain in detail the grading system based on hardness and altitude, and thoroughly break down the impact of washed and natural processing methods on flavor. In addition, Front Street Coffee will introduce the characteristics of four major varieties—Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, and Catuai—and include the roasting and brewing parameters for two Guatemalan beans from Front Street Coffee, providing coffee fans with a complete reference from origin to cup.

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Guatemala is located in Central America, and its coffee stands out among Latin American origins for its bright fruity acidity and distinctive smoky aroma. The texture is smooth on the palate, and the flavor is highly recognizable, which is why it is often called "cigarette coffee." Next, Front Street Coffee will take you deeper into the regional character and flavor profile of Guatemalan coffee beans.

Guatemalan Coffee Cultivation History

According to Front Street Coffee's research, local farmers in Guatemala had already mastered coffee cultivation and consumption methods as early as 1747. In 1750, Jesuit priests introduced coffee trees to Guatemala. In 1845, with the establishment of the Guatemalan Coffee Cultivation and Promotion Committee, coffee gradually became an important cash crop for the country. With strong government support, by 1880 coffee accounted for 90% of Guatemala's total export value. In order to further expand production, those in power turned their attention to Indigenous lands, forcing these people to sell their land and move to more barren areas.

Because of this, even today most production activities in Guatemala's coffee industry are concentrated in the southern region. According to Front Street Coffee's research, Guatemala is currently divided into eight major coffee-producing regions, and the coffee from each region has its own distinct flavor. Overall, however, Guatemalan coffee presents a mild, mellow body, elegant aroma, and pleasant acidity similar to fruity acidity, making it truly a noble among coffees. The Guatemalan Antigua Flora coffee beans at Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are deeply loved by coffee fans.

Guatemalan Coffee Growing Regions

As mentioned above by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), Guatemala has eight coffee-growing regions, each showing different flavor characteristics due to different geographical distribution. Next, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will briefly introduce the characteristics of these eight regions one by one.

Antigua

This is Guatemala's old capital and ancient city, relatively close to the capital, and also the most famous of all regions, so the price is naturally high. As a result, falsely claiming coffee beans as Antigua is not uncommon in today's specialty coffee market. Among these, the highest-priced ones are the Bourbon coffee cherries cultivated in the volcanic soil that is most characteristic of Antigua.

Flavor: balanced acidity and sweetness.

Altitude: 1500-1700m

Acatenango Valley

This is Guatemala's eighth coffee-producing region. According to Front Street Coffee's research, it once served as a supply area for Antigua in the early days and is adjacent to Antigua. The valley is magnificent, and the coffee-producing areas are distributed along the volcanic valley. The valley can retain warm, humid air, and combined with significant temperature differences between day and night, this place is very suitable for coffee cherry growth.

Flavor: good sweetness, delicate fruity acidity, and both flavor and aroma are widely loved by coffee fans.

Altitude: 1300-2900m

Rainforest Coban

This region has extremely abundant rainfall, is shrouded in clouds and mist year-round, has a cool climate, and soil rich in limestone and clay. The post-harvest processing method often directly affects the coffee quality of this region, but as long as it is handled properly, the flavor will be full and charming.

Flavor: good mouthfeel, accompanied by chocolate and tropical fruit flavors.

Altitude: 1300-1500m

Volcanic San Marco

The coffee standard in this area fluctuates greatly. Rainfall is abundant, and once it rains, the coffee cherries bloom densely, which means that sun-drying after harvest depends entirely on luck, so the coffee quality in this region is not stable enough.

Flavor: obvious acidity and sweetness; properly handled coffee cherries will have a full and unique aroma.

Altitude: 1400-1800m

Traditional Atitlan

The soil around Lake Atitlan is very fertile. The highest-altitude coffee is grown at 1950 meters, and most plots extend down the slopes to the edge of Lake Atitlan, where the altitude by the lake is still 1500m. This is also Guatemala's largest and most famous high-altitude lake area.

Flavor: rich aroma and syrupy body.

Altitude: 1500-1750m

Highland Huehue

This region has the highest average altitude in Guatemala and is a volcanic-producing area, but the route to the capital is rugged and remote. Fortunately, dry hot winds from Mexico blow here, which enables Highland Huehue to grow coffee cherries at 2000m.

Flavor: bright and delicate acidity, with floral notes and varied flavors.

Altitude: 1500-2000m

Fraijanes Plateau

This region is a volcanic-producing area with high altitude, and the soil contains abundant pumice, which can even ignite. Its coffee flavor is balanced, yet it has a more unique aroma and flavor than Antigua. Front Street Coffee believes this is probably because the soil characteristics and changeable temperature and humidity conditions of this region make its coffee flavor particularly prominent.

Flavor: unique aroma, balanced flavor, mild acidity, and a thick mouthfeel.

Altitude: 1400-1800m

New Oriente

This region is close to neighboring Honduras, and its climate is similar to Coban, though some areas are hotter. New Oriente belongs to a volcanic area, but its flavor is completely different from other volcanic-producing regions.

Flavor: obvious aroma, with chocolate and spice notes.

Altitude 1200-1700m

Guatemalan Coffee Growing Conditions

Guatemala borders Mexico to the north, Honduras and El Salvador to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Its advantageous geographical location encompasses mountains and seas, with tropical rainforests, volcanic geology, highland valleys, and changeable microclimates. Therefore, it is also very suitable for growing Arabica coffee beans.

The northern and eastern coastal plains of Guatemala have a tropical rainforest climate, while the southern mountains have a subtropical climate. The year is divided into dry and wet seasons, with May to October as the wet season and November to April of the following year as the dry season. The narrow and fertile flatlands along Guatemala's Pacific coast have a tropical climate. The central highlands are also Guatemala's cultural center. According to Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), at elevations of 1300-1800 meters, temperatures are mild year-round, with daily temperatures between 18 and 28°C, while at higher elevations January and February tend to be colder.

Annual precipitation in the northeast is 2000-3000 millimeters, while in the south it is 500-1000 millimeters. Guatemala has a high average altitude, and the coffee belt is distributed above 1500 meters, between 14 and 16 degrees north latitude, where it is easiest to grow Strictly Hard Beans, and all are washed processed. Among them, 45% of the coffee beans are specialty grade, a rather high proportion, and there is also a small amount of Robusta coffee beans.

Guatemalan Coffee Bean Grading

As mentioned above by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), because Guatemala's coffee-growing regions are at high altitude and the temperature is suitable for growing Strictly Hard Beans, coffee grading in Guatemala is also divided according to bean hardness and altitude. This is also because the higher the altitude at which coffee grows, the denser the cherries and the more unique the flavor. The following are Guatemala's coffee bean grading standards (ranked from highest to lowest quality):

SHB (Strictly Hard Bean): grown at an altitude of 1500-1700 meters;

HB (Hard Bean): grown at an altitude of 1350-1500 meters;

SH (Semi-Hard Bean): grown at an altitude of 1200-1350 meters;

Extra Prime: grown at an altitude of 1000-1200 meters;

Prime: grown at an altitude of 850-1000 meters;

Good Washed: grown at an altitude of 700-850 meters.

Guatemalan Coffee Processing Methods

According to Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), most Guatemalan coffee cherries are processed using the washed method, with only a small amount using the natural method.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) has also said in previous articles that the washed processing method is the method that best reflects a coffee bean's most original flavor, and it is also the starting point for understanding the flavor of a producing region. Therefore, the everyday beans launched by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are mainly washed processed. For example, Front Street Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) Guatemalan Huehuetenango everyday beans use the washed processing method; the natural processing method, on the other hand, adds aroma and fermented notes on top of the region's base flavor.

Washed Processing Flow

1. Harvesting. After ripe coffee cherries are harvested, impurities and defective beans are first removed by preliminary sorting, and floating beans are screened out. Up to this point, this is the same as the natural method.

2. Pulping. Fresh cherries are sent into a pulping machine to remove the skin and pulp. Unripe cherries are screened out at this stage because their pulp is difficult to separate. After passing through the pulping machine, what remains is mucilage, parchment, and seeds.

3. Fermentation to remove mucilage. The depulped seeds with mucilage still attached are moved into fermentation tanks. Although the name says washed method, it does not actually wash away the mucilage; instead, through the fermentation process, the mucilage is removed by biological breakdown. The fermentation process takes about 16-36 hours, during which it must be stirred frequently to accelerate the separation of mucilage from the seeds. Washed fermentation produces acidic substances such as citric acid, malic acid, and acetic acid. These acids penetrate into the green beans, making washed beans more acidic than natural beans. After fermentation is completed, the real washing takes place—rinsing the beans again.

4. Drying. After washing is completed, the beans likewise need to be dried in the sun or by machine until the moisture content drops to 12%. Because the washed method has already removed the pulp, during drying there is no need to worry about mold as there is with the natural method. The dried parchment green beans are also not as hard as those from the natural method, which still contain pulp and skin, and can be hulled to obtain green beans.

Natural Processing Flow

1. Harvest ripe coffee cherries

2. First remove impurities and defective beans by preliminary sorting

3. Screen floating beans: pour the coffee cherries into a water tank. Ripe, full cherries will sink to the bottom of the tank, while unripe or damaged cherries will float to the surface.

4. Sun drying: scoop out the ripe coffee cherries that sank to the bottom of the tank and spread them on a drying patio for sun drying, reducing moisture from 70% to about 10-12%. They need to be turned several times a day so the cherries dry evenly, and at night they need to be covered to avoid moisture.

5. Remove the outer shell: after about two to four weeks of sun drying, the outer layer of the coffee seeds has become dry and hard. At this point, a hulling machine is used to remove the outer shell, and the process is complete.

6. Packaging and transport: after hulling, the coffee beans are packaged bag by bag, which is what we generally call green beans. Finally, through different roasting processes and brewing variations, coffee can present millions of flavor changes.

Guatemalan Coffee Varieties

According to Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), Guatemala mainly grows single-origin coffee beans of the Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, and Catuai varieties.

Bourbon: It is a natural mutation of Typica. After the coffee cherries ripen, they appear wine-red, and the beans are somewhat round. Bourbon grown at high altitude usually has better aroma and bright acidity, and tastes somewhat like red wine.

Typica: Typica has excellent flavor performance and is widely recognized as a specialty coffee variety, but its yield is extremely low and it is susceptible to coffee leaf rust, requiring more labor for management. Typica coffee originated in Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan and is the most widely cultivated coffee variety in the Western Hemisphere. The plant is relatively robust but not tolerant of strong sunlight. The top leaves of Typica are copper-red, so it is called copper-top coffee.

Caturra: It is a natural mutation of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its tree is not as tall as Bourbon and is more compact. Because it inherits Bourbon's lineage, its disease resistance is relatively weak, but its yield is higher than Bourbon's. Although it was discovered in Brazil, Caturra is not suitable for growing in Brazil, so it is not planted on a large scale there. Instead, it is widely popular in Central and South America; for example, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua all grow Caturra on a large scale.

Catuai: A coffee variety artificially hybridized from Caturra and Mundo Novo. Catuai inherits Caturra's short stature, does not require shade, is easy to grow, and is convenient to harvest. It also has better resistance to natural disasters than Mundo Novo. In terms of flavor, it has good acidity. Catuai generally appears in two types: red fruit and yellow fruit.

The above is the related information on Guatemalan coffee beans compiled by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee). Next, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will introduce all the Guatemalan coffee beans currently offered by Front Street.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Guatemala Huehuetenango (everyday beans)

Country: Guatemala

Region: Huehuetenango

Altitude: 1500-2000m

Varieties: Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai

Processing method: washed processing

Bean appearance: relatively uniform bean size

Flavor: nuts, lemon peel, berries, citrus

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Guatemala Antigua Flora Coffee Beans

Country: Guatemala

Region: Antigua

Altitude: 1200m

Varieties: Bourbon, Caturra

Processing method: washed processing

Flavor: berries, citrus, light floral notes, soft fruity acidity, chocolate finish

The above is a brief introduction to these two Guatemalan coffee beans from Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee). Whenever Front Street lists a new coffee bean, it conducts extensive roasting and brewing tests and selects the optimal roasting and brewing data to brew for coffee fans to taste. Next, Front Street will share the roasting and brewing data for the Guatemalan Antigua Flora coffee beans for coffee fans' reference.

[Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Roasting Suggestions]

This green coffee bean is plump, green with a yellowish tint, has good uniformity, and medium moisture content, so the Front Street roaster's goal is a medium roast: on the one hand to preserve bright acidity and showcase floral and fruity aromas, and on the other hand to enhance richness and balance.

Roaster: Yangjia 600g semi-direct fire

Charge when the drum temperature reaches 200°C, set the damper to 3, after 30s adjust the heat to 160°C, keep the damper unchanged, turning point at 1'36, maintain the heat. At 4'50'', the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, and it enters the dehydration stage; lower the heat to 140°C, adjust the damper to 4. At 4'50", dehydration is complete; lower the heat to 140°C. At 8'32'', ugly wrinkles and dark patches appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 8'37'', first crack begins; reduce the heat to 80°C and open the damper fully to 5 (adjust the heat very carefully, not so low that there is no cracking sound). After first crack, develop for 1'50'' and drop at 195.3°C.

[Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Brewing Suggestions]

Dripper: V60 dripper

Dose: 15 grams

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Temperature: 90°C

Grind size: EK43s grinder setting 10

[Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Brewing Method]

Pulse pouring extraction.

Bloom with 30 grams of water for 30 seconds, pour to 125 grams in stages, and when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225 grams and stop; when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. (Start timing from the beginning of the bloom.) The extraction time is two minutes.

[Flavor Description]: floral notes, citrus acidity, caramel, slight smoky flavor

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.