Our latest espresso from Javier Martinez has a fresh acidity with a smooth body and a clean finish. With tasting notes of apple, nougat & apricot.
SUGGESTED RECIPE
in: 21.5g | out: 46g | time: 26-28sec | temp: 92-94°C
FINER DETAILS:
origin: pena roja, huehuetenango, guatemala
producer: javier martinez
processing method: washed
varietal: caturra
elevation: 1780m above sea level
roasted for: espresso
Javier Martinez always has quality front of mind. From his stringent processing regime, to the planning and pruning of shade trees, he’s constantly analysing how best to produce a top notch coffee. We hear regularly uses the word ‘calidad’ (quality) as a bit of a verbal tic, pointing out shade tree techniques and ending his sentences by repeating, ‘así es- calidad, calidad!’
Javier’s farm is near Peña Roja, and it extends up towards 1780 masl. He mostly has traditional varietals, bourbon and caturra, and he has gravilea and chalúm shade trees on the farm to protect soils and return micronutrients to the soils which allows him to use fewer synthetic fertilisers. He learned to farm from his mother Porfiria, but as Porfiria is getting older, Javier now manages both his and Porfiria’s farm. Together, they make up about 24 hectares.
processing.
Javier de-pulps cherries the day they’re picked and leaves them to ferment in traditional, open concrete tanks for 24hrs. After 12 hours the coffee is washed & clean water is added to the tank. this removes the sugary mucilage that’s detached from the faster fermenting cherries, while allowing the slower ones to fully ferment without spoiling the batch with overly fruity flavours.
He briefly washes the de-pulped coffee at around 12 hours, and adds clean water in the tank – this method removes the sugary mucilage that has detached from the cherries that ferment faster, and it allows full fermentation of those that take longer without spoiling the batch with overly fruity flavors. The next morning, he washes the coffee using channels that density sort the parchment, removing both over and under-ripe beans.
This year was a challenging one for Javier – heavy rains meant that cherries rotted on the trees before they could be picked, which meant that his farm yielded less coffee than he’d hoped. Duie to the wetter weather it also took a bit longer than usual to dry the parchment. We’re grateful to be able to share his beautiful coffee with you this year!
