Guatemala Huehuetenango Pablo Gaspar
Guatemala Huehuetenango Pablo Gaspar’s Owner of the Hill Farm~ One Roast
We have been lucky enough to buy Pablo’s coffee for the last 3 or 4 years now and it is stand out. We have found that this season, it is just the easiest coffee to drink in almost every way that we have brewed it! My personal preference has been with full immersion brewing or just filter brews, done well.
Top Trumps:
Farm: Puhub’laj translates to “Owner of the Hill”
Area: Concepcion, Huista, Huehuetenango
Owner: Pablo Gaspar Vasquez
Varietals: Caturra, Catuaí, Typica and Pache
Finca Size: 2.7 Hectares
Rainfall: 2.3 Litres or 2.3 Meters
Processing method: Fully washed and sundried on the patio. The cherries are de-pulped on the same day of the picking and left to ferment underwater for 48 hours. After the fermentation, the coffee is being washed and further soaked for 12 hours. The coffee is then being sundried in 5 cm thick layers out on the patio for six days. The coffee is lastly organised for storing and export by the picking date, varieties, and altitude.
The altitude: 1600-1750 Meters above sea level.
Shade Trees: Inga and Gravilia
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Roast: Light Filter
Cup Potential:
|Aromatics: Chocolate stout| Body: Medium-creamy | Acidity: Sweet and citrusy
On opening, this coffee is intensely sweet with white sugars and an orange acidity; like mandarin, with an underlying chocolatey body. On cooling, the liquor almost warrants Dawn French to pop up and say it’s mine, not Terry’s (Chocolate orange). Apart from the fact that neither chocolate nor orange is in this coffee, it should have all of about 2 calories, if you are drinking it as a filter brew.
Eventually, as the brew cools to ambient, the intensity and soluble becomes evident. The chocolate becomes more prevalent, with the citrus element drying out a little.
Filter recipe: 60g a litre as standard just works.
In Espresso: 16-18g in- 34-35g-out. Time: 28-35 seconds Ratio 1:2 for milk-based drinks. I like to extend my shots for espresso. I found that the tighter (shorter shots) were more chocolatey and intense verging on umami, whereas the longer shots were much sweeter.
This is surprisingly tasty in milk, up to 9 oz. For a whole host of reasons, that is as big as a milk drink needs to go, in my little world! (I make the rules).
About Finca Puhub’laj
Pablo Gaspar is a second-generation coffee producer from the town of Concepcion Huista. During the harvest, Pablo makes sure that from four to five passes are made on his farm to ensure that only the ripest cherries are being picked to ensure the quality of his coffee. The name of Pablo’s farm, Puhub’laj, comes from the local indigenous language called Popti. Pubub’laj means “Owner of the hill” which was named years ago by the local ancestors. According to the stories of the elders, during the harvest, they should leave some part of the harvest as an offering for the hill.
Pablo’s plans:
In the future, Pablo is interested in developing his agronomic practices and improving his post-harvest processes.
