beans from far, far away

It is strategically located in the Horn of Africa, bordering Somalia, the Sudan, Djibouti, Kenya and Eritrea with a total border length of 5,311 km. It is the 10th largest country in Africa. The land is varied and contains waterfalls as well as volcanic hot springs. It has some of Africa’s tallest mountains and lowest points.

Guatemala, a Central American country south of Mexico, is home to volcanoes, rainforests and ancient Mayan sites. With an estimated population of around 17.6 million, Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America.

Huehuetenango farms sit high in the mountains ranging from 5,000 – 6,500 feet (2,000masl). This renowned region owes much to the dry, hot winds that come in from the mountains of Mexico’s Tehuantepec plain. The additional heat layers protect Huehuetenango from frost and enable coffee to grow at dizzying heights. The fact that Huehuetenango farms are so high up and remote means that producers must often set up their own micro-mills. Fortunately, Huehuetenango is also blessed with numerous rivers that facilitate washed-process coffee. In the cup, this lot features bright acidity, light body, and sweet notes of chocolate, almond, cane sugar, and hints of tart green apple.

Colombia is one of the most highly populated countries in South America, with the majority of the population living in cities. Colombia is one of the most biologically diverse countries on Earth, boasting beautiful wildlife and a varying climate across the country due to its mountainous terrain.

Colombia is actually a near-perfect coffee growing climate, and Colombian coffee produces a specific type of bean that results from the environment. Colombia gets heavy rainfall and the landscape never gets close to falling below freezing temperatures at any time of the year. The tropical location is perfect for growing coffee, and grow it does! There are about 600,000 coffee growers in Colombia, and most of them pick the beans by hand. 

Colombia is the world’s third largest coffee producer overall, it is the highest in the world for Arabica coffee beans. Each year, the country produces approximately 13 million green bags of coffee (each of which contains about 132 lbs) and exports it across the world. Colombian coffee usually has sweet notes such as chocolate, toffee, nuts, and citrus fruits, and the mild acidity makes it smooth on the palate. It’s very balanced, has good body, brightness, and flavor. 

SHG (Strictly High Grown) specifies that the coffee was grown at an altitude around 1357m/4429 feet. Coffee grown at a higher altitude and lower temperature produces a slower maturing fruit and a denser bean; which creates a more desirable specialty cup.

HG: refers to “High Grown”, which means the coffee was grown at around an altitude of 1200m/3937 ft above sea level.

EP refers to ‘European Preparation’ which is 100% above screen 15; allows a max. of 8 defects per 300g/11 ou (by contrast an ‘American Preparation’ is 100% above screen 13, and allows 23 defects per 300g/11ou but only for washed arabicas); clean cup.