In the legendary Mesoamerican continent, there was a historical Mayan civilization, which is a rainforest civilization distributed in the countries of present-day southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Belize, this ancient place has achieved great achievements in astronomy, mathematics, agriculture, art and so on. In addition, the volcano also makes it a large number of fertile land distributed around Guatemala City, which creates rich conditions for the birth of Guatemalan coffee.
Taste characteristics of Guatemalan coffee, flavor characteristics of Guatemalan Antigua coffee: rich, rich in taste, with tobacco flavor. On the menus of some high-end cafes, the "Origin coffee" column is sure to include Guatemalan Antigua coffee. People who like it are always obsessed with its special smoke smell. Coffee created prosperity in Guatemala, and it continues to influence Guatemala's economy to this day.
Guatemala's growing environment is volcanic soil, so Guatemalan coffee bean flavor tail will have some smoky taste, which is also the unique taste of Guatemalan coffee. Antigua coffee has a smooth texture with a slightly charcoal flavor in the aroma, like the sweetness of chocolate mixed with smoke. This charcoal-fired incense TOEFL is found in nearby areas and erupts every 30 years, allowing the coffee tree to fully absorb the nitrogen that comes out during a large eruption. Because of this unique charcoal-fired aroma, Antigua coffee is also known as "cigarette coffee". In fact, coffee produced in the vicinity of volcanoes in other countries also contains a similar smoke taste, but without the pure aroma of Antigua coffee.
City of Antigua
The city of Antigua is the oldest and most beautiful city in the Americas. As early as 1543, the city of Antigua was the colonial capital of all Central America, and the Spanish governor's palace was located here. After the earthquake of 1773, the city of Antigua was completely destroyed, so the capital was moved to Guatemala City. Antigua City, about 40 kilometers west of Guatemala City, is a living museum of history in colonial buildings damaged by the earthquake.
Antigua coffee is produced on the island of Antigua, where it is grown naturally on the slopes of the volcanic hinterland and bathed in full rain and sun. Although this emerald valley has been surrounded by active volcanoes in all directions, layers, deliberate and dangerous since ancient times, its vastness, vastness and fertility still tempted the Spaniards to build their capital in the precarious cliff valley.
Antigua coffee bean story
Guatemala was a Spanish colony in the 16th century, destroying most of the precious Mayan civilization during colonial rule, and then Guatemala declared independence in 1821, and coffee became an important export cash crop for economic development.
Antigua coffee can be traced back to the Mayan civilization. Due to the eruption of the volcano, the soil here is more nutritious, and the abundance of sunlight and moisture also makes the coffee of excellent quality. On top of that, the inhabitants insist on growing Arabic bourbon coffee, which is produced in small quantities but has a better texture.
The inhabitants of Antigua prefer to harvest coffee in one go because they grow coffee on a large scale, and use the ancient sun drying method to remove the skin and pulp of the coffee cherries. People pluck ripe fruits and unripe fruits together, and even mix leaves in them and spread them out in the sun. Spread on the ground for such a long time, coffee beans tend to absorb the miscellaneous smell of the soil, so they often have a strange salty taste. The average coffee friend often can't stand this weird taste, but people who are used to it love it. Coffee farmers in Antigua earn very little income. But they themselves say: even if they are poor, they are still happy because of coffee.
The volcano once destroyed this once prosperous capital city in an instant, and took away all the prosperity and beauty overnight. After this bumpy mountain town, more than 200 years of splendor disappeared, and Antigua never held its head high again. Antigua, which had been reduced to a bland, is now run hard and hard-working by the only remaining Indians. These hardworking and hard-working Indians became future coffee producers, and they not only discovered the rich and attractive smell of Antigua coffee, but also brought it to people all over the world. Today, Antigua coffee has a reputation as the best quality coffee in the world and is hailed by coffee connoisseurs as the best and most distinctive coffee in the world.
Antigua's coffee is sought after by the vast majority of coffee lovers simply because of its distinctive aroma. Because it is planted on the belly of a volcanic mountain, it retains its own characteristics more than Costa Rica, mainly because it has more geographical and climatic advantages than Costa Rica. Guatemala is located in the tropics, but due to the relatively high altitude, the climate is mild, which is actually subtropical. Coffee trees under the influence of this climate bloom and bear fruit more slowly than coffee trees in other parts of the world. However, the mild climate combined with fertile soil makes for an excellent environment for growing coffee.
These Maya-run coffee industries once prospered Guatemala's economy and dominated the national economy. Unfortunately, the political situation in Guatemala is not favorable for these coffee growers. High production is often a sign of a country's overall economic prosperity. However, coffee production in Guatemala has been relatively declining, to just 700 kilograms per hectare, compared to 900 kilograms per hectare in El Salvador and 1,700 kilograms per hectare in Costa Rica. Guatemalan coffee export trade is controlled by private companies, but the National Coffee Commission controls other sectors of the coffee industry. In the end, the Maya disappeared, but left a remarkable coffee for the world.
Antigua appellation
Unlike Colombia and Brazil, Guatemala is not large, but there are many coffee cultivations in Guatemala, such as Antigua, Vivetenan, Coban, Lake Atitlán, Farahan Plateau, San Marco Volcano, Acatenanguo, etc. are all important coffee producing areas in Guatemala.
The Antigua region is surrounded by the three volcanoes of Agua, Fuego and Acatenango in southern Guatemala. Antigua has little rainfall in the summer and occasional frost in winter, but fortunately located in an active volcanic area, the volcanic light stones after the volcano erupts fall into the soil to cool down, because these light stones have many fine pores, which are very easy to moisturize moisture, and a large number of shade trees are planted in the estate, so that the coffee trees will not be affected by the cold in winter. Combined with the high altitude, the large temperature difference between day and night gives the place a unique microclimate. I used to drink a flower god coffee bean, which is produced at Alaminota Estate in the Antigua region, and it is washed with water.
Raw green coffee beans for bioethical agriculture in Costa Rica
Raminitta Manor
Known for its excellent cultivation and processing techniques and strict quality control, Laminita commissioned Las Pastores, the largest local washing plant in Antigua, to process green beans to the highest standards, and named the coffee beans after Flower God. In addition to maintaining the original flavor of the production area, the dry aroma has a strong floral and tea aroma, and after the mouth, the sour aroma and berry flavor of Lem, and then turns into the tail rhyme of honey, excellent cleanliness and rich layering are the characteristics of this flower god.
Estate La Minetta is very organic, and due to the geographical advantage of the high altitude and the unique climate that limits the number of pests, no pesticides are used on the cultivation, and a small number of pests do not affect the coffee tree too much. However, care needs to be taken in harvesting, because when the rainy season is about to end, the coffee cherries will ripen immediately after and the green fruits will begin to turn red, but the coffee cherries ripen very slowly and unevenly, not as quickly and consistently as flowering, so the harvesting work must be handled more carefully, and in order to ensure good quality, only the fully ripe crimson fruits are harvested in the estate.
Soil tests are carried out twice a year to determine the frequency and dosage of fertilizer, provide more nutrients to the coffee trees and prevent disease. Such scientific cultivation management has created the excellent performance of Huashen coffee flavor and the reputation of consistent quality for several years. The quality of the soil in which high-quality coffee beans are produced is guaranteed, and Laminitta is fertilized about 3 times a year. In addition, Raminita also applies fertilizers with trace elements such as zinc, boron, copper, etc. to provide more nutrients to the coffee tree and prevent diseases.
Flower God coffee bean variety
The varieties of Guatemalan flower gods are mainly bourbon, cadoura and cadouai, and bourbon and tiebica are listed as ancient high-quality coffee varieties, with pure flavor and moderate sweetness and sourness. Kadura has a sour taste of lemon or citrus, and is not as sweet as Tibika and Bourbon, and the sweetness of Kadura is determined by the number and amount of fertilizer applied by the grower, and has a high capacity, but to maintain the capacity must continue to fertilize and prune, so the tree is short and branched. Although production capacity has increased, production is still limited because the harvest period takes two years and the cost of care is higher.
Close-up of a man holding green coffee beans in his hand Close-Up Of Person Hand Holding Raw
Flower God coffee bean treatment
Guatemala, like other coffee-producing countries in the Americas, also loves the washing method, which is also very popular in the Americas. For producers, the biggest difference between the washing treatment and the sun treatment is that it can process coffee beans stably and in large quantities, and the quality of green beans is better. I think that the taste of washed coffee beans will be cleaner than sun-dried and reflect the local flavor, which is why most of my ration beans choose washed water.
The washing process is to flotate the picked cherries with water flow to select the coffee cherries with sufficient density. Then the machine is used to remove the skin and pulp of the coffee cherry, the coffee beans that complete this step will be put into the fermentation tank for fermentation, and the pectin layer will be decomposed by fermentation, and then the decomposed pectin and residual pulp will be washed with clean water, and finally the coffee beans are dried to reduce the moisture content to about 11% and can be taken to storage. The washed treatment also gives this flower coffee a higher acidity and a cleaner taste spectrum.
Roasted flower god coffee bean ideas
Guatemalan coffee bean flavor itself has Latin American nut adjustability, a little floral aroma and soft fruit acid, using a medium roasting technique, preserving more floral and fruity aromas, clean and bright acidity, on the other hand to enhance richness and balance.
Coffee beans roasting
Brewing Guatemalan coffee parameters:
Medium-roasted bean coffee has a lower solubility than dark-roasted beans, and it is recommended to use a V60 filter bowl with a faster flow rate, medium water temperature, and a medium-fine grinding degree for extraction.
Grinding degree: medium fine grinding / fine sugar coarse (China No. 20 standard screen screen rate 80%)
Powder amount: 15 grams
Filter bowl: V60
Water temperature: 90 degrees Celsius
Powder-to-water ratio: 1:15
Water injection method: three-stage
Using three-stage extraction, fumigation with twice the amount of coffee powder, that is, 30 grams of water for 30 seconds, and the reason why the steaming process is required is to allow the coffee powder to discharge the internal carbon dioxide gas, so that the extraction of the later stage is more stable. When the small water flow is filled in a circle to 125 grams, continue to fill until 225 grams to stop, and after the water dripping of the filter bowl, remove the filter bowl, start the timing from the water injection, and the extraction time is 2'00". Finally, pick up the whole cup of coffee and shake it well, then pour it into the cup and taste.
Guatemalan Floral Coffee flavor characteristics: berry acid, citrus, light chocolate, rich layering, smooth taste.
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