Guatemala Antigua Bella Carmona

The most fresh and delicious coffee from the latest Guatemalan harvest is finally here. From the mountains of Antigua, just north of Guatemala City, Bella Carmona is a fourth generation family farm known for producing world-class coffees. Their expertise in plant nutrition, pruning, and pest management is superb, which results in a selection of exquisite coffee cherries. My staff and I are absolutely RAVING about this coffee! The aroma is fresh bread and pastry, with highlights of cocoa and hazelnuts. In the cup, the body is THICK! RICH! CREAMY! SWEET! But not too sweet. It reminds me of the excellent and super delectable hot chocolate that my daughter-in-law serves at The Quarry, her gastropub here in Bisbee. The finish is lingering and clean with more notes of deep, dark chocolate. Guatemala coffee fans, scoop this one up fast because it will fly out of here. Start thinking about your summer cold brew: this one is a perfect fit for the cold brew crowd! Aroma: Fresh Bread, Pastry, Sweet Highlights of Hazelnut and Cocoa Cup: Creamy, Thick, Slightly Sweet, Marshmallow Deep and Rich Hot Chocolate Finish: Clean and Lingering, Dark Chocolate One Pound About this Coffee GROWER: Luis Pedro Zelaya Zamora REGION: Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepéquez, Guatemala ALTITUDE: 1500 – 1650 meters PROCESS: Fully washed and dried on patios and elevated tables inside solar dryers that provide protection from the rain VARIETY: Typica HARVEST: October - February SOIL: Volcanic loam Luis Pedro Zelaya has earned much attention around the cupping table and among learned coffee professionals. He has four generations of Guatemalan coffee culture pulsing through his veins and an Agribusiness degree from the renowned University of Zamorano. His stellar professional reputation for producing world-class coffees is drawn from his ability to implement precise farm management and post-harvest processing decisions. The perennial arrival of the Bella Carmona lots personifies the combined execution of all the fundamentals. The process starts at Zelaya’s family farm, Hacienda Carmona, where plant nutrition, pruning, and pest management are superb, resulting in a selection of exquisite coffee cherries. At Bella Vista, the location of the wet and dry mill, Luis Pedro and his team meticulously process fully traceable lots by harvest date, location, variety, and altitude. Coffee is depulped, fermented, and washed in a very traditional way perfected over the last 100 years. Then, the coffee is gradually dried in a controlled environment designed to protect cup quality. Raised drying beds and sensor-controlled airflow permit a more uniform drying process and an additional opportunity for hand-sorting parchment as it dries. The same focus on sorting and quality control is maintained through to the final export stage. Bella Vista’s dry mill has also been specifically designed for sorting high-quality micro-lots. Bella Carmona is produced in the Antigua region, which has a protected designation of origin (PDO) established because of Antigua’s renowned coffee reputation.