Guatemala Huehuetenango Washed Coffee

A washed coffee from the high farms of Huehuetenango in western Guatemala. Crisp apple and orange-peel brightness sit over cocoa and almond in a clean, well-structured cup.

Origin & Story

Huehuetenango is unusual among Guatemala's coffee regions because it is not volcanic. Its coffee grows on the slopes of the Cuchumatanes, the highest non-volcanic mountains in Central America, which rise above 3,800 meters in the far west of the country, close to Mexico. Anacafé recognizes the area as one of Guatemala's eight coffee regions, under the name Highland Huehue.

Altitude usually brings frost, and frost is a risk for coffee. Here, hot winds that sweep in from Mexico's Tehuantepec plains meet cool air coming down from the mountains, and the mixture keeps frost in check, so coffee can be grown as high as 1,900 to 2,000 meters. In that protected microclimate the cherries ripen slowly and become dense.

Most of the farms are small. The ripe cherries are pulped, fermented, washed and dried, and it is the washing that gives this cup its crisp, clean character: with the fruit removed before drying, what remains is structure and clarity rather than jam.

Expect apple and orange peel for brightness, cocoa for depth and almond in the finish, in the clear cup that a Chemex makes. A high-grown washed coffee like this one is at its best when it has cooled a little, because the sweetness comes forward.

Reading the Flavor Profile

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