Guatemalan beans... very, very good!

[Terje]

Again, not Kona but a damn good substitute. Very balanced coffee.

This afternoon I'll try the beans from Tanzania.

[ivdp]

I must have missed something... Guatemala:
Washed, Unwashed? Arabica, Robusta?
Prime Washed, EP, Semi Hard, Hard Bean, SHB?
Antigua, Atitlan, Huehue etc?

I don't want to sound like the headmaster, but your statement is like telling a very very good car, without saying what . . . .etc


Ivo

[zix]

ivdp, we swedes are usually out of luck when trying to get info on the origin of our greens. If Terje´s Guatemala is the one supplied by Kahls (one of the two big suppliers to specialty tea/coffee shops over here), it is described as an ecological SHB, a wash-processed bean. That is all the info there is about it on their site. Sad, isn't it?
Things are changing to the better, but slowly, as the new generation of home roasters is entering the tea/coffee-shops with demands for much more info than the old ladies, that have kept the green bean business going all through the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's, had.

[Terje]

zix is right, we get very little info. I'll try and see if the shop I buy from has a site. The coffee was bought at Sibyllans in Stockhjolm, which is probably the best coffee shop in the city. They roast their own and for this reason they also sell it raw.

[ivdp]

Now I 'd like to sound as a headmaster:
When you buy greens, ask your supplier for this type of info, and even more detailed. You will find it interesting to keep track of the different origin exporter names and/or the different origin regions where the coffee is coming from.
The difference betwtwween a Washed Guatemala Strictly Hard Bean from the Antigua district or from Heuehueteneango is huge.
Also the difference between different sellers from one region can be quite important.

Ivo

[zix]

Vi har fått rektor Hektor Sektor på oss, Terje! Hur ska vi klara det? =;)
Yeah, I am on it with my favourite local dealer, who understands me and tries to get more info from her supplier (-s). I have recently had a couple of less-than-perfect yirgacheffe beans - not from my fav dealer, but from another place where they don't know or care as much about green beans - and it is a bit irritating not knowing if it was just a bad sample from the usual origin or if Kahls (the importer) have bought their beans elsewhere this time, or if perhaps the yirg is not as good this year, or what happened. To many of these people a bean is a bean, so perhaps it even wasn't a yirg because they mismarked their coffee bag, and I will never know.... Rrrrgh.

The Guatemalan coffee is another good example: I still haven't been able to compare Antigua, Huehuetenango and Coban because I have never seen any other specified origin than Antigua in the tea/coffee shops. I may have tasted all of them without knowing, though. That´s the way it is over here. If I could find another roast freak living nearby, perhaps we could order a big load from sweetmarias and I could start being a bit serious about this.
.... oohhhh, come to think of it, does that mean I would have to buy a HotTop also?

[Terje]

Now I 'd like to sound as a headmaster:
When you buy greens, ask your supplier for this type of info, and even more detailed. You will find it interesting to keep track of the different origin exporter names and/or the different origin regions where the coffee is coming from.

Trust me, I will the next time. Hopefully they know, cause they seem like the kind of people who do take this seriously.

The difference betwtwween a Washed Guatemala Strictly Hard Bean from the Antigua district or from Heuehueteneango is huge.
Also the difference between different sellers from one region can be quite important.

Ivo

So, what would be your guess if I describe it like a very well balanced coffee, not as round or nutty in taste as the yirgacheffe I have, definitely some acidity but not like the Kenyan AA I have. A really, really good tasting bean, not too far from Kona actually. This would make a pretty good subsiotute for the much higher priced Hawaiian beans.

[ivdp]

If you describe a Guatemala and you find taste associations with an Ethiopian, a Kenyan and a Hawaiian coffee, I bow my head in silence.

Ivo

[mattmills]

Mr headmaster,
i think that you may be a little hard on your pupil...
If we are going to talk about general cup profiles then Terje is not so far off. If we use Kenya as an example of Acidity.... then a central, such as a guat, has acidity, a different style and less intense but the comparison can still be found.

[Terje]

If you describe a Guatemala and you find taste associations with an Ethiopian, a Kenyan and a Hawaiian coffee, I bow my head in silence.

Ivo

I don't have that much else to compare it to. Gimme a break. Of the ones I have it comes closest to the Kona beans.