Today is a really special day at the Table. For the first time in our history, we are working with a coffee roaster on a dual-release! That’s right—the minute this review drops, BeanFruit Coffee Company’s latest limited edition release, Guatemala Jimenez y Vasquez, will go live on their website!
Michicoy is a small sub region tucked up in the highlands of Huehuetenango. Part of the much larger San Pedro Necta region, it’s a string of small towns perched along the mountainous spines of Sierra de los Cuchumatanes mountain range. The folks at Sweet Maria’s have had a project in the area the last couple years, negotiating higher prices for top quality coffees from the local small-scale farmers. The project is called “Proyecto Xinabajul,” which you can read more about HERE.
In the past, different qualities was not a factor when selling their coffee on the local market, so they’re working with intermediaries to gain access to some of the farmer’s coffees, sorting through lot separations, and identifying the coffee that deserves a much higher premium. It’s a win win situation.
This lot is a blend of two Michicoy farmers—neighbors, really: Fredy Jimenez and Marcos Vasquez.
Both lots were exceptional on their own, but such small volume, and complimentary to one another, that we decided to blend them together. Even still, it’s a mere 1400 LBS, so not too much to go around.
Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re sipping the Guatemala Jimenez y Vasquez, from BeanFruit Coffee Company in Flowood, Mississippi. Feel free to pull up a chair.
THEDETAILS:
region: Michicoy, Huehuetenango, Guatemala
farm: N/A
producer: Fredy Jimenez, Marcos Vasquez
association: N/A
elevation: 1700 – 2000 meters above sea level
cultivars: Bourbon, Caturra, Typica
process: fully washed, patio dried
certifications: standard
BREWINGSPECS:
method: Hario V60
grind: 17, Preciso
coffee: 32 g
water: 500 mL
bloom: 2:00
pour: 2:30 concentric pulse pour, 1:00 drop
CUPPINGNOTES:
The aroma of this coffee is very pleasantly sweet, drawing my nose in with scents honey, toffee, somewhat intense blackberry, orange peel, brown sugar, and a very faint fragrance of chocolate, citrus blossom, and rose hips.
Holy moly. I have to say, I’m genuinely surprised with the immediacy/urgency/intensity of the flavors this Guatemala is throwing at my palate right out of the gate. You know, Guatemalan coffees definitely have a pretty heavy fruit/sugar browning emphasis, but this is obviously a pretty special lot that embodies the exception and not the rule. It has a pretty heavy body, characterized by raw honey and muscovado sugar, but it’s intensely juicy and equally sweet/tart with incredible flavors of cherry and tangerine (including the tangy tartness of its rind).
As the cup cools, so the intensity follows, taking its foot off the gas pedal a bit. There are plenty of really gorgeous flavors happening still, though. Silky and clean notes of white peach, nectarine, and honeycrisp apple flow over the palate, bringing in a smooth, buttery, brown sugary finish.
Medium body; juicy mouthfeel; citrus acidity; clean finish.
FINALTHOUGHTS:
BeanFruit Coffee Company’s Guatemala Jimenez y Vasquez is… Well, it’s a damn exceptional coffee. It was one of those rare coffees that made my eyes pop open as wide as they can get and had me exclaiming “Wow!” at the very first sip.
This is a coffee that demands fine-tuning to really highlight all that it’s capable of presenting and I think BeanFruit did a really great job of doing just that; it’s not a perfect coffee (there was just the slightest hint of roast in the finish, but it is almost undetectable to those who aren’t carefully scrutinizing the coffee), but it’s close enough to perfect to provide a really exciting, bright, clean, structured, and complex cup of coffee.
Now, as I mentioned earlier in the post, the minute this review dropped, the Guatemala Jimenez y Vasquez went live on BeanFruit’s website! So what are you waiting for…? Go buy it!
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Andrew is a husband, father, dog lover, craft beverage enthusiast, content creator, and niche market Internet celebrity. Formerly of A Table in the Corner of the Cafe and The Pulitzer Project and contributor to Barista Magazine and Mental Floss, he’s been writing on the Internet for years.