The technology behind
Just add filtered water to enjoy one of our picks of the season. These Steeped bags are a simple and elegant way to present a selection of the coffees we find most exciting, removing many brewing variables, and allowing quality and character to shine. Individual doses are ground and sealed in nitrogen-flushed packages, maintaining the clear aromatic character of freshly ground coffee, for over a year after roasting.
La Colina
Antonio ‘Tony’ Medina is a second generation farmer, but didn’t grow coffee himself until 1991. Tony’s father gave the farm its name; La Colina translates to ‘the hill’, named for the high elevation here in the Chimaltenango hills. La Colina is located just outside the town of San Martin Jilotepeque, only about one and a half hours from the Guatemalan capital, Guatemala City. It’s also a short drive from the famed Antigua region, the source of Tony’s inspiration to start growing coffee, after initially growing corn and beans on his plot of his father’s lands.
Coffee from Antigua exploded in popularity in the late 20th Century; one of the early recognisable stamps of quality in the beginnings of the speciality coffee era. This inspired Tony to grow quality coffee on his lands, slowly increasing the number of coffee trees plants through the 90’s and 2000’s. Since then he has continued his pursuit of quality, receiving ever higher prices for his crop, and even beginning to plant a small lot of Geisha in the early 2010’s. It’s from this plot that we have purchased this year.
Washed Geisha
This lot is a great illustration of Tony’s years of experience. Even before planting, Tony was aware of the great level of care the Geisha plant requires, and has slowly become accustomed to how the plant acts and what it needs when growing here. Ripe cherries from his Geisha plot are transported to the wet mill and de-pulped, before fermenting in tanks for 32 hours. This long and slow fermentation is typical at these high altitudes in Guatemala, creating a great deal of complexity and a soft overall cup profile. Here, we find deeply complex florals of jasmine and magnolia, and a soft cup profile reminiscent of lemon balm with a poached fruit sweetness.
