Introducing January's featured coffee - Guatemala Finca San Jeronimo Miramar
Today’s staff blog will focus on the featured coffee for January 2023 - Guatemala Finca San Jeronimo Miramar.
This delicious coffee is sourced from a coffee farm located on a literal volcano in the Atitlan region of Guatemala called Volcan De Atitlan. The coffee farm is located between 700 - 2,600 meters above sea level, and coffee is grown between 800 - 1,600 masl. The tropical climate of this region is perfectly suited to grow coffee and receives abundant rainfall year-round.
Volcan De Atitlan, Guatemala - Image Credit: Arian Zwegers from Brussels, Belgium, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The farm has been owned by the same family for over 100 years and produces coffee, exotic tropical fruit, honey, and a variety of dairy products. The farm’s natural fresh-water springs feed the farm’s water supply and provide hydroelectric power to all the farm’s processing facilities. Owners, Georgio and Gina Brassani treat the environment, their employees, and their community with a deep level of care. A large portion of the farm is a nature preserve that protects a number of native species, and they have a lab on-site to research natural methods of reducing fungi and pests in coffee production!
After the fruit of the coffee cherries has been removed, the coffee beans are put through a washing process and then spread out on cement patios to dry before being bagged and shipped to our roasting facility in Maryville.
Guatemalan coffees are known for their full-body, chocolaty notes, and rich toffee-like sweetness. The coffee grown in the Antigua and Atitlan regions is categorized as strictly hard bean (SHB) and features a pleasant floral acidity and mild spice. We carefully roast this specialty coffee here at our Maryville facility to bring out the best flavors and aromas possible for our customers. We source this coffee from our partner business Deeper Roots Coffee in Cincinnati. Deeper Roots owner, Les Stoneham has developed a producer/roaster relationship with the farm and is able to source the highest quality beans from each year’s lot production.
Les Stoneham - Owner of Deeper Roots Coffee leads a coffee cupping at the Finca San Jeronimo farm in Guatemala.
I have recently updated the roasting profile for this outstanding coffee to highlight more of its incredible chocolate and dark fruit notes. The roast degree is considered Med-Light and the tasting notes on the bag have been updated to Dark Chocolate, Black Cherry, Almond
We are fortunate to have access to this limited-supply coffee and I am excited to highlight it as our featured coffee for the first month of the New Year!
It’s a GREAT day for coffee!
~Matt~