This is How we Brew It

Finca El Mirador is perched atop a peak in Aldea El Pajal, in the municipality of San Antonio Huista, and from the farm, you can see down into the town and the surrounding countryside (El Mirador means viewing point) that form this part of Huehuetenango.

Miguel Mendoza has been farming this land for the last 42 years, and his attention to detail is evident in this lot. It’s complex, chewy, bursting with flavour, and yet delicious enough to be brewed any way you like.   Miguel and his team made 4 separate picking passes through the farm at harvest-time, only picking the ripest cherries, and then driving the cherry collected that day to the processing site in Rancho, a 3 hour round trip. That’s the level of commitment that results in the highest level of quality in your cup. Add in shade trees, careful 32-36 hour fermentation, rinsing with clean spring water, and careful turn fin on the drying patios, and this is what you get.

This is a beautiful complex coffee, with plenty of sweet toffee apple flavours to the fore, but underneath that, we find some mandarin orange, maybe some nectarine too, and it’s all wrapped up in a sticky-sweet raisin body. It will reward some experimentation, and sipping and savouring.

It works in all brew methods; in espresso and mokapot it’s sticky, sweet, and chewy, and in milk drinks the toffee and apple are really noticeable. In filter and pour over, you’ll find some more fruit, and that lovely raisin note, and in cafetière, expect the toffee and some chocolate to come through.