Looking to kick up your coffee with a bit of spices?

Are you bored of overwhelming “chocolate” or “nutty” coffees? Do you also avoid anything with tasting notes citing citrus? Then La Soledad might be the bean for you. This coffee has no acidity at all but makes up for it by bringing in some solid spices and a long finish. When roasted light to medium, these beans are sassy. They give off strong notes of cinnamon, cardamom and a few other sweet spices that we honestly couldn’t pin down. The notes evolved in our cups, defying consensus. These are distinctly spicy and will break you out of the coffee doldrums. 

La Soledad’s beans work well in most coffee brewing setups: espresso, pour-over, Moka pot, whatever. They make a killer cold-brew too where the spices are even stronger.  

Ethical to the core

La Soledad may produce spicy beans but their approach to farming couldn’t be more mild. They ensure a healthy, ethical work environment on their plantation. They preserve local water streams, native vegetation and conserve their forests. La Soledad looks after the humans too; providing health care, clean and safe living quarters for workers and families, fair wages and trainings.

BufCoffee – A woman led endevour.

Bufcoffee is one of those companies that you just can’t help falling in love with. Epiphanie Mukashyaka founded Bufcoffee in 2003 because she was passionate about coffee, and she wanted to help lift others in her community who needed a helping hand. As a widow of seven children, Epiphanie knows a thing or two about perseverance – and about neighbors helping neighbors.

In order to follow her dream of bringing high-quality coffee production to her community, Epiphanie learned everything she could about the coffee trade, went through tons of training on all levels of fully washed coffee production and quality control, and quickly achieved something amazing: she became one of the region’s only female coffee producers!

But Epiphanie didn’t stop there, she shared her company’s success with her community by providing water sanitary systems, health insurance for the farmers, and generally improving living standards. They’ve even built a local school!

Bufcoffee Tasting Notes

From the moment you open a bag of Bufcoffee coffee beans and smell the wonderful aromas, you know you’re getting a world-class coffee. The beans are also Rainforest Alliance certified, by the way.

Bufcoffee beans are grown in the Nyamagabe District, part of the Southern Province of Rwanda. The coffee bean trees are located in areas with an elevation of between 1,920 – 2,100 meters, and it’s this high elevation that gives the beans their crisp, complex flavor. Trust us when we say, there’s something special about these beans.

You see, growing coffee plants at higher elevations stresses the bushes, which results in a smaller yield of beans. The benefit to growing coffee fruit in conditions like this is that the beans that are produced have a more concentrated flavor, and a harder exterior – both desirable qualities in high-end coffee beans.

To understand this process better, think of the way stress impacts grape vines. The older the plant, the more the roots must fight for water, and the more stressed they become. Stressed vines produce fewer grapes, but the grapes that are produced are prized for their unique flavor.

If you’re like us, and you love a good pour-over coffee, you’re going to want to try this coffee ASAP. There’s just so much happening in the cup: yellow plum, apricot, champagne, cashew, pineapple and cane sugar flavors. And, on top of that, the acidity is well-structured and kind of tropical.

Sipping this ultra high-end coffee is truly delightful because the flavors just keep unfolding. It really is one of the most interesting beans we carry.

The Bufcoffee Cupping Score

Cupping is a system used to taste, evaluate and grade coffee, similar to, but not completely the same as a wine rating system. Aroma, flavor, body, acidity, and balance are all graded to give a coffee its cupping score.

Scores of 80 points are incredibly difficult to achieve. Coffees rated over 80 are considered specialty coffees, i.e.: the best of the best, and any coffee that approaches or surpasses 90 points is considered out-of-this-world good.

The Bufcoffee cupping score is an incredible 86.5. In other words, this is a coffee you’re going to want to tell all of your coffee-loving friends about.

Cauca is a magical place, filled with parks, protected wildlife and clean, precious water and maybe fairies, who knows? What we do know is that this particular coffee here was raised right at the equator, which would normally mean it’s hot and humid but fortunately some caring soul hauled this coffee plant slowly and painstakingly up steep slopes, and planted them in rich volcanic soils. Not only that, they picked the perfect spot, one where mountainous ridges protected the farm on all sides from inclement weather and the ruthless sun.

The result is coffee so smooth it practically glides over your taste buds like liquid silk. Lighter roasts have a floral sweetness with a citrus finish; while medium and darker roasts will enjoy a cashew nut-like cream and lingering chocolate finish.

Quietly nestled in a valley between three volcanoes on the southern coast of Guatemala lies Antigua. Long considered to be one of the top regions for coffee not just within Guatemala, but all of South America. Their secret for coffee excellent lies in the terroir.

Although being surrounded by three volcanoes sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, these mountains are really gentle giants. The trio protects the valley from inclement weather, keeping the fields at a steady temperature of 18 to 21°C. They trap in the rain clouds yet are positioned in a way that generous sunlight spills into the hills. The soil is the rich volcanic type (duh) almost making it impossible to grow anything but top-grade beans.

The result is a coffee that comes with a flavour profile that is unique for South American coffees. Most South American beans are nutty, but these ones are more complex, showing sweet berry and rare citrus flavours when roasted light. Going up the roasting scale lessens the acidity but lemon peel still shows in the nose, followed by aromas of pipe smoke. When you get to the dark levels, the sweet cigar smoke dominates with the nuttiness evaporating and turning to dark chocolate.

Coffee from Bugisu is grown high up on the slopes of Mount Elgon. The coffee cherries here hail from the Bourbon varietal and definately-named-by-a-scientist-not-a-marketer varietals of SL-14 and SL-28. These varietals do particularly well at high-altitudes and harsh environments. Sharp temperature differences between the days and nights force the cherries to grow slowly over an extra-long maturation period. The result of this slow development process is higher sugar content and a thick body that is rare for an East African coffee.

Honduras is a curiosity in the coffee world. The country showcases a wide diversity of flavours, techniques and varietals that are breath-taking in scope and make pinning down a regional style impossible. The shear number of styles makes Honduran coffee a darling among coffee professionals as there are always new farms, flavours and techniques to discover. It’s best to approach Honduran coffee with an open mind. If you don’t like one, don’t write off the country; just switch regions and you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

This coffee is produced by Finca Las Mercedes: a cooperative found high up in the Mercedes Ocotepeque hills. These are top-quality beans, ranked highest on the Honduran quality scale: “Strictly High Growth” meaning they were farmed at an altitude of 1,200 to 1,800 meters. Carefully hand-picked and then processed as lightly as possible by removing the mucilage via fermentation in clean water and fully washing the beans before drying. The result is a pure expression of the local terroir. In darker roasts you can expect exceptional smoothness, a full body, and chocolate notes with a hint of lemon peel in the finish. Light roast drinkers will enjoy a similarly smooth taste and lively fruit. Ocotepeque is a hard-working and practical style that is well suited for all brewing methods.

Brewed Awakenings: Introducing The Guatemala, Huehuetenango SHB Whole Coffee Bean

Coffee lovers worldwide look forward to their daily ritual of sipping their beloved brew to kick start the day. But in the fast pace of today’s modern world, we don’t always remember to stop and think about the unique process these energizing beans go through before landing in your morning mug.

Let’s explore one region that produces some of the best coffees in the world: Central America, specifically Guatemala and Honduras.

A Brief Look Inside the History of Guatemalan Coffee

Central America is extraordinarily diverse and includes some of the world’s most popular coffees. The region of Central America stretches from Mexico to Panama and lies in the heart of the equatorial zone. The area has become known as the “Coffee Belt” because of its prime growing environment.

So, what was coffee’s journey to Central America, specifically Guatemala?

Guatemala Coffee History

Coffee arrived in Guatemala in the mid-1700s as ornamental plants only. But the country’s native dye industry, which was the primary employer in the 1860s, couldn’t last for long with synthetic dyes that replaced natural ones.

Guatemalan leaders incentivized the growth of coffee plantations, and it quickly became the country’s largest export. Until the mid-2000s, Guatemala was one of the top 5 coffee-producing countries, but Honduras eventually surpassed it. Now, coffee enthusiasts across the globe enjoy brews from both countries.

Unique Growing Conditions of the Central American Region

Guatemala and Honduras are two Central American countries known for coffee, with diverse regions producing different but nuanced flavours in the coffee they make. One particularly unique region is Huehuetenango, a city resting atop high elevations in Guatemala.

The Guatemala, Huehuetenango SHB Whole Coffee Bean

Approximately 2,000 meters above the ocean lies a unique microclimate where Guatemala’s best coffee grows. Welcome to Huehuetenango!

This quirky geographical locale allows the hot, dry air from the Plains of Tehuantepec to mix with the fresh breezes of the Cuhumatanes Mountains, creating a protective bubble. Despite the nosebleed-inducing altitude, the microclimate here protects coffee blossoms from the ravages of frost. It also allows for coffee to grow slowly, and fruits mature slowly.

Master coffee roasters recognize that coffee berries that mature slowly at high altitudes produce harder beans and varied flavour profiles depending on the location. Any coffee grown above 1,350 meters receives the title of Strictly Hard Bean (SHB) to indicate its unique character. The beans of Huehuetenango clear this bar by several hundred meters.

Processing Methods

The fruit produced in the highlands of Huehuetenango is washed with the cold mountain waters to prevent over fermentation. The beans are then dried in the arid sun.

The minimal processing followed by drying in the sun preserves the natural complexity of Huehuetenango’s SHB flavours. The result is a coffee with clean flavours of nuts, caramel, and fruity acidity in lighter roasts.

Roast Profiles and Flavor Breakdown

The result of the harvesting and processing method is a coffee with precise flavours of nuts, caramel, and clean, fruity acidity. The flavours develop and evolve depending on the roast level:

• • Light Roast Cashews and a hint of red berries linger in the background.
• • Dark Roast Darker roasts bring out the brew’s hazelnut, cocoa, and nutty notes. Toasted cashew, hazelnut, and a chocolate finish mingle in a pleasantly round body with no acidity.
• • Roaster’s Choice Leave it up to our in-house expert if you’re not sure which roast level you’d prefer. Their roast level produces a strong cashew character with a nutty finish and round mouthfeel. A light hint of chocolate dances across the palate too. 

The Final Sip 

At Bean Curious, a solid cup of gourmet coffee is our favourite way to feel more energized in day-to-day life. While numerous beans are coming from Guatemala, Honduras, and the Central American region, we tip our hats to Guatemala, Huehuetenango SHB whole coffee beans.

Add this coffee to your next subscription for a delectable introduction to the brewed deliciousness of the beloved and booming “Coffee Belt.”

References:

https://www.homegrounds.co/guatemalan-coffee/
https://driftaway.coffee/origin-spotlight-guatemala/
https://www.sagebrushcoffee.com/blogs/education/central-america-coffee-info