This microlot comes from La Nueva Montana, a small farm located in El Palmar, a small municipality in the Fraijanes area of Guatemala.

There, Antonio Gonzales, the owner, grows mainly red and yellow catuai coffee varietals under shade trees of Inga, Gravilea, and Avocado. At an altitude between 1550 and 1800m asl, he makes sure that only the ripest cherries are handpicked. This is usually achieved through three picking passes across the plantation.

The cherries are processed on the same day there are picked. While most of the Guatemala specialty coffee has been prepared as fully washed, Antonio Gonzales started a few years back to make a few microlots of specialty based on single varietals separation and using different processes, such as honey or natural.

This microlot, composed by single varietal red catuai cherries only, underwent a natural preparation.

After the picking, any over- or underripe cherries were manually removed. The cherries were then put on a patio in a thin layer under the sun. Many turnarounds prevented any over fermentation. They staid there until the residual moisture reached the desired value, typically between 10 and 12%. Once fermentation was complete, the now dried skins and the parchments were mechanically removed to obtain the green coffee beans, which were packaged in GrainPro bags, which are, in turn, placed into jute bags.

In the cup, this coffee tastes like a brilliant mixture of dark chocolate, raisins, and fruit like green and red apples.

It is a perfect espresso specialty coffee, very suitable for milk-based drinks. In fact, it comes roasted to order with a customized roasting profile designed for espresso and moka extractions. As a starting point, for espresso we recommend the following recipe:

• Dose: 17g,
• Water temp: 93C
• Brew weight: 33–35g
• Brew time 30–32s

Minimum resting period: 14 days from roasting date