Arriving on the last flight Thursday the week before the international jury, I awoke to find myself sample roasting late harvest offer samples in our lab, before jet lag had time to set in we were off to Antigua visiting both long term partners and new that we work with in the area, Puerta Verde, Santa Clara and new for this year Jauja, the harvest was over for the year and above ground the shade trees were being pruned, at eye level the flowering had passed and fruit sets were in their early stages for the next harvest.
Saturday was a loss due to Mother’s Day, but Sunday there was time to visit some more growing partners, we set off early and drove towards Alta Verapaz some of which falls under the growing region Rainforest Coban. We reached the farm Santa Isabel by midday, in an area with little natural water reserves it was uncommon that they should have their own wet mill on site yet from a quality perspective perfect. Flowering was underway for the next harvest slightly behind Antigua down to the different microclimates of Guatemala.
The weather could not have been hotter and yet our next stop 56 km down the road at Santa Paula the weather could not have been more different with heavy rain causing us to run for cover, later that evening we returned to Guatemala City and I checked into the hotel and joined up with the rest of the jury.
The international competition was a bit of a blur but I’ve broken down the day’s activities below:
Day One: Group calibration.
Day Two: Round 1 Sessions 1 – 3 consisting of 30 coffees.
Day Three: Round 1 Sessions 4 – 6 totalling 60 coffees all together in round 1.
Day Four: Round 2 consisted of 28 coffees from the previous round broken into 4 sessions of 7.
Day Five: The top 10 followed by the awards ceremony in the evening.
Day Six: Flight home.
Farms I visited:
IN STORE
Santa Clara – Washed
Santa Isabel
Puerta Verde Estate
Puerta Verde – Bourbon
AFLOAT/ SHIPPING
Jauja
