We have been lucky enough to buy Guatemala Finca La Colina over a number of years. It is one of those coffees that delivers fantastic fruity coffee, year after year. La Colina regularly features in Chapin, too, our long-standing, darker roast Guatemalan espresso. Watch out for this in the filter section too, as it is equally delicious.
Farm: La Colina
Region: Antigua
Town: San Martin
Owner: Tony Medina
Varietal: Caturra
Processing: Fully washed and sun-dried on patios.
Size of Finca: 179 Hectares
Coffee produced:4000 kg (avg. Year)
Elevation: 1,700 meters above sea level.
Temperature:16 – 23ºC
Shade Trees: Inga
La Colina is some 1700 Meters above sea level, and the name aptly translates into “The Hill Farm”. Tony inherited the land from his father, a bigger farm split between siblings, as often happens in farming families. He then named the farm La Colina.
In the beginning, Tony grew beans and corn, whilst learning about growing coffee from others. Coffee was the dream, and in 1991, he slowly started planting a few coffee plants; the rest is history. Currently, Tony is planning on diversifying into new varietals and also improving drying by using raised (or African) beds.
I would suggest that this is a relatively easy coffee to set up for espresso. We used the lowest-grade commercial-grade grinder in the roastery, to be realistic about many people’s home set-up and a refurbished espresso machine that has done 104,000 shots of coffee so far.
94C. 17-18g into 34-35g of espresso liquid in 27-32 seconds.
From the biggest drink downwards:
9oz Milk-based drink: Creamy and curranty.
6oz Milk-based drink: Cocoa, currants, hint of savoury and cocoa.
Espresso 17-18g into 40-55g
We weren’t sure what to expect, with every season being slightly different. Bright, juicy, sweet currants, brown ripe sugars and cocoa. This is simple and delicious.
Let us know how you get on.
