Guatemala Finca Filadelfia - Filter

Guatemala Finca Filadelfia - Filter Great to finally be working with Marta and her team from Coffee Bird, we have got a few lots from them this season, this is the first of them! A very classic washed profile coffee, tasting like caramel apples, nectarine and hazelnuts. ****************************************************** Producers + Mill: FInca Filadelfia has been split into 4 unique parcels, or farms, when it passed on to the third generation of the family. Coffee represents 214.64 hectares of the entire farm. The coffee that they call Finca Filadelfia today is from Roberto Dalton’s 1/4 of the original finca, plus a new lot that he purchased later on and named Altos de Filadelfia, as it is located on the hill above his inherited lot. Manuel Matheu (Marta’s great great great grandfather) initially leased the land at Filadelfia, and like most farms in Guatemala they originally harvested cochineal, a scale insect from which the natural dye carmine is derived. During the industrial revolution, Germany developed synthetic dyes, removing the need for the natural carmine colour. As a result, cochineal farms across Guatemala faced a devastating recession. In order to survive, in 1864 Manuel made the decision to transition away from cochineal to coffee. After his first harvest, he went to London to sell his first crop. After returning from London, where he had achieved great success, he was commissioned by the President of Guatemala to show other small farmers how to grow coffee. Thus the Antigua coffee growing region was born. Eventually, Manuel’s son purchased the lad his father had leased. Through the years Finca Filadelfia has been run by passionate owners, like Marta’s great grandmother Elisa, who ran the farm until she was 95 years old and placed 2nd in the first Guatemala Cup of Excellence in 2001. The Dalton family is proud to honour its coffee growing heritage, and the farm is currently being operated by the 5th and 6th generations. ****************************************************** Variety: Bourbon - The Bourbon coffee variety dates back to the 1700s when French missionaries first introduced it on Bourbon Island in the Indian Ocean. The island is called Réunion today and the missionaries moved on to Latin America in the middle of the 1800s. It was first grown in Brazil around 1860 and cultivation spread from there throughout Latin America. Because the standard Bourbon variety is susceptible to coffee leaf rust, it does best at higher altitudes at or above 1,800 meters where leaf rust is less likely to occur. Bourbon produces a tall coffee plant, excellent coffee, and medium to low production. It much of Latin America, basic Bourbon has been replaced by offshoots such as Caturra, Catuai, and Mundo Novo. Caturra - This variety originated in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is a natural mutation of Red Bourbon. Caturra produces more coffee and is more resistant to plant diseases than Bourbon. Villa Sarchi - Like Caturra and Pacas, Villa Sarchi (also called La Luisa or Villalobos Bourbon) is a natural mutation of a Bourbon population with a single-gene mutation that causes the plant to grow smaller (called “Dwarf/Compactism’). The variety was discovered in Costa Rica in the 1950s or 1960s in the northwestern region of the province of Alajuela, and has subsequently undergone pedigree selection (selection of individual plants through successive generations) there. It is not widely grown outside Costa Rica, though was introduced to Honduras in 1974 by IHCAFE.It is known for being well-adpated to the highest altitude conditions and tolerant of strong winds.Villa Sarchi is perhaps most well known as one of the namesakes of the “Sarchimor” group of coffees. In the 1970s, coffee breeders and growers in Latin America, as well as the global coffee industry that depended on coffee from the region, were extremely concerned about the recent arrival of coffee leaf rust in Latin America.In 1958 or 1959, the Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro of Portugal (CIFC), famous for its research into coffee leaf rust, received two shipments of Timor Hybrid seeds. Timor Hybrid is a natural cross between Arabica and Robusta that appeared spontaneously on the island of East Timor in 1920s. Its Robusta genetics conferred rust resistance into the variety. From the two shipments of seeds that CIFC received, breeders selected two plants for use in breeding based on their high resistance to leaf rust. In 1967, CIFC breeders began work to create new varieties of coffee that would be resistant to coffee leaf rust, but also have a compact stature that could be planted more densely. One of the rust-resistant Timor Hybrid plants, called HDT CIFC 832/2, was crossed with compact Villa Sarchi to create hybrid 361 (H361). The hybrid was dubbed “Sarchimor.” (Crosses made with compact Caturra were dubbed "Catimor.") ****************************************************** Process: Coming soon! ****************************************************** Region: Antigua Producer: The Dalton Family Farm: Finca Filadelfia Importer: Coffee Bird Price (green ex Shipping): £11.62 p kg Variety: Bourbon, Caturra & Villa Sarchi Process: Washed Altitude: 1600masl Amount Bought 69kg Tasting: Crisp, Clean, Fruity, high sweetness, Balanced Flavours like: Caramel apple, Nectarine, Hazelnut