Guatemala | Finca San Jorge / Washed

REGION:
Palencia town, near Cerro Tomáz Tepeque and bordering Antigua, Amatitlán and Jalapa

PRODUCER:
Tulio Lemus and Silvia Lechuga | Manager: Barsen Lemus | Farm: Finca San Jorge

ELEVATION:
1450 - 1650masl

AVERAGE YEARLY RAINFALL:
1200 ml

AVERAGE TEMPERATURES:
15C to 27C

VARIETALS:
Bourbon, Mondo Novo, Catuai

PROCESS:
Washed

CUPPING:

86.25 (SCA)

TASTING NOTES:
Full Bodied, Crisp, Milk Chocolate, Brown Sugar, Caramel & Roasted Hazelnut

FARM:
Finca San Jorge is a family property, located north-west of the capital of Guatemala, at a distance of 37 km along the route to the Atlantic and 7 km from the municipal seat of Palencia, in the village of Los Tecomates.

Altitude ranges from 1,450 - 1650masl meters above sea level, we have a temperate climate, ranging from 15 ° to 27 ° C

The family has 2 farms in the town of Palencia, in a mountainous area Northeast of Guatemala city. Palencia is not a well-known coffee producing area because a lot of our beans are sold via Antigua and end up branded as such. Some of the finest "Antigua" coffees come from Palencia. The son manages the coffee plantations for parents Tulio Lemus and Silvia Lechuga. They also grow vegetables, tomatoes, ornamental plants and we have a hydroponics project. 4 other siblings are involved with those.

The farmers find coffee fascinating and really enjoy studying agronomy. A few years back they started an irrigation project and planted rows of coffee trees on a flat plot in the farm looking to introduce some mechanized processes. They can't mechanize picking but could do it with running, for example. Small doses of irrigation allow for a more consistent nutrition, which improves the plants' health and resistance. Tecolote (Owl) plot, one of the highest on the farm, doesn't yet have an irrigation system, but it is fully covered by the shade of trees.

Shade is extremely important, not only it increases the biodiversity at the farm (including many species of birds and insects) but it favours the development of the plants. They learned recently about the Growing Degree-Day (GDD) of plants, a measure that relates temperatures to plant development and inform farmers when the plants will flower, produce fruit and finally reach maturation. 

GDD is based on the calculation of maximum temperature minus the minimum temperature of the day divided by two minus the base temperature of the plot. It helps predict when to expect the harvest season in a more scientific and accurate way. It also shows that it is not so much altitude that affects the maturation of coffee but the temperature and that having a shade-grown plantation is like being at higher altitudes!

BREW RECIPE ESPRESSO
PRESSURE / Pre-infuse for 4s
TEMPERTURE / 94-97°
DOSE / 21g
BASKET / VST 22g
YIELD / 50-55ml
TIME / 28-32s
RATIO / 1:2.5