Guatemala — Antonio Recinos Alvarado & Juan Sebastián Recinos Finca Nueva Armenia Typica (Oak Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍊 Pomelo • 🍎 Apple • 🍑 Fig • 🌼 White Florals

DETAILS

• Producers: Antonio Recinos Alvarado & Juan Sebastián Recinos
• Farm: Finca Nueva Armenia
• Region: La Libertad, Huehuetenango, Guatemala
• Varietal: Typica
• Process: Oak Washed
• Elevation: 1,700–1,900 masl
• Certifications: Smithsonian Bird Friendly (since 2008); certified organic

INTRO
Finca Nueva Armenia sits in La Libertad in the highlands of Huehuetenango, growing coffee under a layered shade canopy. This Typica reached the final rounds of Guatemala's Cup of Excellence national selection again this year. In the cup: pomelo, apple, fig, and white florals.

THE PRODUCER
Around fifty species of shade tree have been recorded on the farm, and that forest cover has kept it Smithsonian Bird Friendly since 2008; it is also certified organic. Cousins Antonio Recinos Alvarado and Juan Sebastián Recinos are the fifth generation of the Recinos family to run it, and Antonio is a chemical engineer who specialises in coffee processing.

Typica belongs to the Bourbon-Typica group, the lineage that carried Arabica from Yemen through Java to the Americas. Its cup is known for clarity and sweetness, with a delicate, refined structure. The plant grows tall and usually produces its first crop in its fourth year, yields little, and has low resistance to leaf rust. World Coffee Research rates its quality potential at high altitude as very good, with its best above 1,000 metres at Guatemala's latitude.

THE PROCESS
The Oak Washed process for this lot involves:

🍒 Depulping — ripe cherries depulped
🪵 Oak fermentation — parchment ferments dry in an oak vessel, with no water added
🚿 Washing — once the mucilage has broken down, the coffee is washed clean
☀️ Drying — sent to dry

The oak vessel is the one departure from a classic washed process. It shows in a cup that is delicate and clean throughout.

THE CUP
Pomelo opens the cup, bright and juicy, with crisp apple following in a clean sweetness. Ripe fig sits beneath them and gives the cup depth. As it cools, white florals rise in the aroma, and the finish stays light and clean.

Flavour Notes
🍊 Pomelo 🍎 Apple 🍑 Fig 🌼 White Florals