Guatemala America Perez

Description

GUATEMALA AMERICA PEREZ RED STONE FRUITS, ROOIBOS, CARAMEL A lovely washed Huehuetenango from a producer who's new to us this year. America Perez's coffee is everything we want from a clean, classic Guatemala: ripe red stone fruit, rooibos tea, and deep caramel sweetness. There's enough fruit and acidity to keep the cup lively, but it has that comforting structure and balance that makes great Huehue coffee so easy to keep drinking. Classic.   BEAN DETAILS: ORIGIN: Canoguitas, Huehuetenango, Guatemala PRODUCER: America Perez Ramirez ELEVATION: 1,500–1,900 masl PROCESS:  Cherries are selectively picked at peak ripeness and depulped the same day. The coffee then ferments in open cement tanks for approximately 12 hours, with America adjusting fermentation based on temperature, weather, and the ripeness of the fruit. Once fermentation is complete, the coffee is moved into washing tanks. Water is changed three to four times while the coffee is agitated and floating or defective seeds are removed. VARIETY: Caturra, Bourbon TASTING NOTES:  Ripe red stone fruit leads into rooibos tea and deep caramel sweetness. Clean, structured, and wonderfully balanced. ROAST TYPE: Light Farm Level About America Perez America Perez Ramirez works alongside her father, Alejandro Ramírez Méndez, on their family's coffee farms around Canoguitas, Huehuetenango. Coffee runs deep in the family. America's grandfather spent more than 20 years working as a laborer on farms in the Ixnul area before saving enough money to purchase his first parcel. Her father, Alejandro, began working alongside him as a teenager and eventually started buying and planting land of his own. Today, America and Alejandro farm across four small parcels in two municipalities, ranging from approximately 1,500 to 1,900 meters above sea level. It's a true family livelihood. Coffee is their primary source of income, and during harvest America employs another 10–12 people from the community. Their philosophy is refreshingly simple: good farming takes hard work, persistence, and patience. The Farms America's four parcels include Jolimex, Tuiscús, Canoguitas, and Chejoj. The farms are primarily planted with Caturra and Bourbon, alongside some Catimor and a small planting of Pacamara. Coffee grows beneath chalúm and grevillea shade trees, while corn and beans are also cultivated for the family's own use. America returns coffee pulp to the soil after processing, recycling part of the harvest back into the farm. We met America through the Canoguitas producer group, which recently completed a shared coffee warehouse after two years of planning. The building sits on America and Alejandro's land, with Alejandro serving as its manager—receiving lots from participating producers, maintaining inventory, and sometimes collecting coffees himself. It's a small piece of infrastructure, but an important one for producers trying to improve quality and organize coffee collectively in a very remote part of Huehuetenango. The Process America produces this coffee using a traditional washed process. Cherries are selectively picked at peak ripeness and depulped the same day. The coffee then ferments in open cement tanks for approximately 12 hours, with America adjusting fermentation based on temperature, weather, and the ripeness of the fruit. Once fermentation is complete, the coffee is moved into washing tanks. Water is changed three to four times while the coffee is agitated and floating or defective seeds are removed. The parchment is then spread in a thin layer across nylon-lined patios. It's raked roughly every hour during the day, gathered into piles each night, and spread again the following morning until completely dry. It's careful, hands-on processing, and you can taste that precision in the cup. Bean Details ORIGIN: Canoguitas, Huehuetenango, GuatemalaPRODUCER: America Perez RamirezELEVATION: 1,500–1,900 maslVARIETIES: Caturra + BourbonPROCESS: WashedFERMENTATION: Approximately 12 hours in open cement tanksDRYING: Patio dried on nylonROAST TYPE: Light