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El Retiro | Guatemala | Espresso

We Nitrogen Flush all of our coffee when bagging for an inert shelf stable environment by locking freshness inside for up to 6 weeks prior to opening.

 

Farm:  Finca El Retiro

Region: Acatenango

Varietal: Bourbon

Process: Washed

Altitude: 1500-1700masl

 

Finca El Retiro and sister farm La Merced have been part of the Alburez-Ortega family since patriarch Francisco Alburez first purchased it at auction in 1832.

 

Back then it was only known as La Merced, named after the Mercedarian convent that previously occupied the property. Francisco’s daughter Maria Alburez de Ortega took over the farm and along with husband Manuel Ortega y Carrascal planted corn and black beans, recognising that the farm’s clay-loam soil was excellent at retaining moisture and well-suited to farming activities.


Harvest at El Retiro begins in January, when the weather is still cool, and ends in April, when the heat intensifies. This climatic pattern is key to the farm’s success: the cooler weather allows for coffee cherries to mature slowly as the harvest begins (leading to cherries with higher sugar content), while the hotter weather creates the kind of conditions necessary for coffee to dry adequately and reach an ideal moisture content when the harvest ends. The farm’s wet mill is able to process 60 tonnes of coffee per year.

 

During the harvest, the coffee was selectively hand-picked by a dedicated team of pickers. Cherries were depulped at on-site wet mill and fermented in traditional tanks for 18 hours. The beans were then washed to remove any remaining pulp and carefully placed on concrete patios for a “pre-drying” stage.

 

After spending approximately two days on patios, parchment was placed on raised beds to complete drying for a total of 8-10 days. Once dry, the coffee was rested in parchment until it was ready for export, when Prisma Coffee handled the dry milling and logistics.

 

Words, Photos & Sourced by Melbourne Coffee Merchants.

 

El Retiro | Guatemala | Espresso

$22.00Price
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