Guatemala Finca La Bendición Amilcar Perez: Sample Coffee Roasters

Guatemala
Finca La Bendición
Amilcar Perez

Amilcar Perez owns a 1.2 hectare farm where he has just about 500 coffee trees planted. After picking the ripe coffee, it’s depulped that same day, the coffee is fermented for 18–28 hours, on average, before being washed twice or three times and laid out to dry on patios or nylon for 3–4 days.

Washed process Bourbon, Caturra, Pacamara

Flavour: red cherry, cola, brown sugar

Body: Acidity:

Roast: omni (filter + espresso)

This week we’re sharing our subscription coffee from Guatemala for the year, with this crop from Amilcar Perez’s farm Finca La Benedición.

It’s a 1.2 hectare farm in Canalaj, within the Huehuetenango region that might be familiar. where he has just about 500 coffee trees planted.

After the ripe coffee is picked, it’s depulped that same day, then fermented for 18–28 hours. Once fermented, it’s washed two or three times and laid out to dry on patios or nylon for 3–4 days.

Guatemala’s production of coffee first grew in the 1860s on the back of a declining indigo trade, which had previously existed as its main export. Until 2011 Guatemala was in the top 5 highest producing coffees nations in the world, before being overtaken by Honduras.

The region of Huehuetenango is a non-volcanic area characterised by high altitude and a predictable climate. It’s often considered to produce the highest quality coffee in the country – characterised as the most fruit-forward and can be the most complex of what Guatemala has to offer.

The geography that helps produce the region’s flavours also creates challenges: most farmers are required to process their own coffee, rather than attempting the difficult journey to transport the cherry to a mill for processing.

Sourcing and ingredients

100% Bourbon, Caturra, and Pacamara coffee beans, provided by Cafe Imports and roasted by us on Gadigal land / Sydney.

Green coffee certified Organic.

Country grade: Unknown ?

Packaging

Bag: ABA Certified home compostable
Label: Recyclable
Valve (on bags larger than 250g): General waste
Coffee ordered online is shipped in a recyclable cardboard box

Brewing this coffee

We recommend brewing this coffee 15–49 days post-roast. If pre-ground, brew as soon as possible. Our advice on storing coffee.

1:3
dose:yield
ratio

To brew on espresso, we recommend using 20g of beans (dose) to get 60g of espresso out (yield), during 24-28 seconds.

g dose

g yield

View the how to brew espresso (single origin) guide.

1:16.7
beans:water
ratio

To brew in infusion/fed brewers (V60, Chemex) use a ratio of 1:16.7 ratio of beans:water.

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:14.3
beans:water
ratio

To brew in immersion brewers (plunger, AeroPress, Kalita, batch brewer) we recommend using a 1:14.3 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:12
beans:water
ratio

To brew as cold brew we recommend using a 1:12 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

Producer: Amilcar Perez
Country: Guatemala
Region: Canalaj, Huehuetenango
Altitude: 1750-1800m above sea level
Varietals: Bourbon, Caturra, and Pacamara
Process: washed
Harvested: February 2020
Body: Medium
Acidity: Balanced
Tasting notes: Red cherry, cola, brown sugar
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Varietals

Bourbon varietal

A natural mutation of the Typica varietal, Bourbon is named after Reunion Island (then known as Il Bourbon) where the French cultivated the Typica plants which naturally mutated.

Caturra varietal

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon that was originally discovered in Brazil in 1937, considered to be the first naturally occurring mutation ever discovered.

Pacamara varietal

A cross-breed between Pacas and Maragogype, developed in El Salvador in 1958

The location

Coffee from Guatemala

Guatemala’s production of coffee first grew in the 1860s on the back of a declining indigo trade, which had previously existed as it’s main export. Up until 2011 Guatemala was in the top 5 highest producing coffees nations in the world, before being overtaken by Honduras.

The Huehuetenango region of Guatemala

A non-volcanic region of Guatemala characterised by high altitude and predictable climate. Often considered to produce the highest quality coffee in Guatemala

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.