Santa Clara

Santa Clara is a sugary, washed Guatemalan developed in Berlin from our friends at The Barn, and a welcome reminder of how much a sweet, classic sipper from Guatemala brings to the cup.

Ricardo Zelaya is the fourth generation of his family to run the farm, which sits on the slopes of Volcán de Agua in Guatemala’s Antigua valley, one of three volcanoes ringing the valley. Ricardo studied agronomy in the US before taking over, and he brought a sharper focus on quality that earned Santa Clara a Cup of Excellence win in 2001. Roughly a quarter of the estate is still kept as forest.

The Caturra and Bourbon in this lot grow at 1,650 to 1,700 meters. After picking, the cherries are pulped, fermented and washed, then dried for about three weeks on raised beds inside a greenhouse. The washing keeps the cup clean, so the sweetness the cherries build at that altitude comes through clearly, without the heavier fruit a natural would add.

In the cup, it’s maple syrup first, then soft yellow plum, with just enough brightness to keep it all in balance.

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Producer → Ricardo Zelaya
Farm → Santa Clara
Location → Antigua, Guatemala
Varieties → Caturra, Bourbon
Altitude → 1,650–1,700 masl
Process → Washed