Filter Roast

Clove, Wine, Honey

— Guatemala
Caturra Variety, Washed

 Suitable for Pour-over, Aeropress, Chemex and French press brewing methods

Santa Isabel sits at 1,400–1,600m above sea level. The farm receives a lot of rainfall—around 3,500mm, which falls regularly for 9–10 months of the year. This constant rain (much of it a gentle drizzle) means that coffee tree flowering is very staggered, with eight to nine flowerings a year, usually between April and June. This results in a long harvest period, which typically runs from November–May, as the coffee cherries ripen at very different rates. To combat this, Wicho instructs at least 12 passes for picking (with breaks of up to 14 days between passes), to ensure that only the very ripest cherries are selected.

Within hours of being picked, the cherries are transported by foot or tractor to Santa Isabel’s wet mill (located on the farm) where they are sorted through a mechanical siphon and graded by weight. They are pulped immediately and then fermented for up to 17 hours, and then passed through a “washer” to remove any remaining fruit. The coffee is then passed through channels and graded by weight, and then soaked in clean water for 24 hours. It is then dried in the sun for 10–15 days until it reaches 30% humidity and is then transferred to a greenhouse to finish drying on raised beds. Their aim is to dry coffee slowly and consistently, with an ideal 5% drop in humidity per day, until humidity is 11%.