Guatemala Tres Cruces

• Tasting notes white grape, vanilla, juniper
• Roast level light
• Region joyabaj, quiché
• Varietal bourbon, catuai, caturra
• Process honey
• Elevation 1500-1900 m

This is the only honey-processed coffee in our lineup right now. Honey processing is when some of the fruit pulp stays on the seed while it dries. That pulp is where the sweetness comes from, so the cup lands soft and syrupy. Our team got notes of white grape acidity and vanilla sweetness. Most surprising was the hint of juniper, which brings a piney, cooling edge running against all that sweetness.

The coffee comes from smallholder farms around Joyabaj, in the Quiché highlands, and it’s processed at the Joyabaj Wet Mill. The mill is only five years old, built with sponsorship from the Guatemala Special Coffee Trading Federation. The families who own the farms handle the selection, the picking and the collection themselves, and for growers with no way to move their harvest, the mill goes and gets it. Fair Trade and Organic certified.

This coffee is for anyone who leans toward light roasts with real body behind them. Pour-over or filter is where it shows best, with enough time for the sweetness to open up and the juniper to stay its own distinct note.