This natural coffee comes to us from the steep slopes surrounding the beautiful high elevation volcanic lake Laguna de Ayarza. It is part of the Ayarza Wine Series, a collection of deeply fruited, markedly winey coffees from El Porvenir Cooperative. The cup is sweet with notes of raspberry, caramel, and sweet grain. Scroll down to learn more!
Laguna de Ayarza, Guatemala
This coffee was grown by El Porvenir Cooperative on the steep slopes surrounding Laguna de Ayarza in the Santa Rosa Department of southeastern Guatemala. Famous for its natural beauty, Laguna de Ayarza is a high elevation double caldera. Approximately 20,000 years ago, two different catastrophic volcanic eruptions caused two intertwined volcanos to collapse into the earth, thus creating the lake and blanketing the region in mineral-rich pumice. The area's fertile volcanic soil, consistent rainfall, warm days, and cool nights are perfect for specialty coffee cultivation and promote slow cherry maturation. Coffee from this region is famous for being sweet and dense.
Ripe Coffee Chrries (Caturra, Bourbon, and Yellow Catuai)
The Porvenir Cooperative consists of 28 farms owned and run by 9 families. They are known for their high quality coffees and interesting processing techniques. This coffee is part of their Ayarza Wine Series, a collection of deeply fruited, markedly winey coffees, all processed in different ways. The coffees all display intense fruits, a slightly fermented character reminiscent of wine, candied sweetness, and depth of body, each through their unique lens.
This coffee was shade grown under broadleaf and conifer trees. The cherries were carefully hand picked when perfectly ripe and delivered to the cooperative's processing station to be sorted. Only the highest quality ripe cherries are selected. For the natural process, the cherries are immediately spread out on patios and dried for 5-6 days before being finished in drum-type mechanical coffee dryer call a Guardióla. The cup is sweet with notes of raspberry, caramel, and sweet grain.
