Guatemala: BOSQUES DE SAN FRANCISCO

The city of Antigua in Guatemala sits at the heart of the stunning coffee growing region that takes its name from the city. The edge of Antigua merges seamlessly with the surrounding coffee farms and the regions coffee has built an enviable reputation for excellent quality over many years.

Steeped in the history of the old Central American colonial capital, the city still retains a unique mix of Spanish and Mayan culture. Looking up from the criss-cross of cobbled streets Antigua’s the unique geography that defines the coffee from the micro-region is inescapable.

Three vast volcanoes, Fuego, Agua, and Acetenango form a ring around the region and their shelter provides a cool and dry micro-climate perfect for coffee growing.
Bosques de San Francisco is one of the farms that blends with the old city, and is an offshoot of Filidelphia, a farm though to be one of the regions first. With such a central location in the region Bosques de San Francisco bears all the hallmarks of Antiguan coffee quality and represents the typical flavour profile perfectly.

When roasted fuller, Antigua coffees are renowned for their rich chocolate aromatics and creamy, dense, almost ganache like mouthfeel. We’ve taken this approach with Bosques de San Francisco and a rich dusted cocoa note runs through the flavour profile from beginning to end. This is balanced by flavours of amaretto, dark forest fruit and rich caramel. The supporting orange citrus like acidity is soft and muted, allowing the boldness of flavour to take centre stage.

A tip for brewing this coffee for most enjoyment is to let the water temperature come off the boil to around 90 - 92 °C. Brewing at this lower temperature with a French press (and even lower with an aeropress) helps the luxurious chocolate aromas and supporting almond notes come to the fore. In a filter look for more of the caramel aromatics, along with the dark forest fruit notes and roasted coffee flavours.