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New Arrival: Organic/Fair Trade Guatemalan San Marcos

The newest Organic/Fair Trade offering is the perfect coffee offering for this time of year!

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I'm excited to announce the newest star to the Pawling Coffee Roaster lineup! This is my first time working with a coffee from Guatemala for an extended period of time. Generally, I'll get my hands on smaller batches for roasting demonstrations, but this time I'm committing to the full sack.


This coffee comes from the San Marcos region of Guatemala and is a washed process due to the higher rainfall levels.


Each roast was prepared in the standard sampling methods of French press, double-shot espresso with double-walled portafilter and a French press method of cold brewing with a 12 hour extraction at room temperature.


Light Roast:

  • Hot- The acidity was there, but it wasn't unpleasant. Everything in the description online was there, but not developed enough at this roasting level.

  • Espresso- Not recommended. Sour and underdeveloped.

  • Cold Brew- Sour and bland.

  • Conclusion: Not much going on with the light roast, but it gave good insight as to what to expect.

  

Medium Roast:

  • Hot- Much more developed than the light roast. Notes of orange peel and a brown sugar sweetness. I could sip on it for a long time, but once it was completely cold it wasn't as interesting.

  • Espresso- Smoother texture than the light roast, decent enough crema. Amplified the orange peel flavor along with the brown sugar.

  • Cold Brew- Brought out chocolate notes I didn't detect anywhere else, but was too subtle to get excited about. The orange flavor didn't translate into the cold brew either.

  • Conclusion: A major step in the right direction. It's proving to be a very bright and sunshiney coffee.


Dark Roast:

  • Hot- Everything I enjoyed about the medium roast, but with a slightly bitter edge hanging around. The chocolate notes came out more prominently, but it was more like baker's chocolate rather than anything sweet.

  • Espresso- The espresso method smoothed out the bitter notes from the hot brewing method. I very much enjoyed this roasting level with this method because it produced a bright shot without being acidic. It could certainly benefit from blending in a chocolate-forward coffee.

  • Cold Brew- Just plain bitter.

  • Conclusion: I won't be roasting it single origin at this level, but I will be incorporating it into the espresso blend that includes chocolatey coffees.


Final Thoughts

I think this coffee will be perfect for this time of year. Although the cooler weather tends to cause us to crave darker and richer flavors, I think the brightness of the Guatemalan will bring some warm cheer to the dreary winter ahead.


I will be roasting this primarily at the sweet spot between medium and dark since both the medium and the dark have good qualities.


 
 
 

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