• Beans: Guatemala (Asociación Chajulense, Quiché)
  • Roaster: Rise Up Coffee Roasters (Easton, MD)
  • Origin: Guatemala
  • Roast level: Medium (3/5)
  • Roast date: 7/22/2025
  • Purchase date: 7/18/2025 from Green Valley Marketplace in Elkridge
    Freeze date: n/a; Thaw date: n/a
    First cup: around 8/20/2025; Last cup: TBD
  • Elevation: 1100 to 1800 MASL; Certifications: Fair trade, organic
  • Tasting notes: Low-toned, with pungent earthy and cedary notes supporting tart citrus and fruit. Rich acidity; milky but lively mouthfeel. Sweet-toned and deep in the finish.
• Previous bags: July-August 2024, April 2024
• Switch with Ode grinder (immersion method):
  • 20g coffee / 300g water
  • Ode: 3
  • Water at 95°C
  • Close drain / pour 50-60g bloom and agitate / at 0:45, pour to 300g / swirl / steep until 02:00-02:10 / stir once or twice in both directions and open drain / should finish around 02:50-03:00

My struggles with brewing these beans are well-documented in my two prior posts. I think a lot of it has had to do with not knowing what to expect from the beans on one hand, as well as my still-evolving palate for coffee. I don’t recall reading the above tasting notes prior to today (they are listed on the web site, but not the bag) and they were rather eye-opening. I think I was interpreting “rich acidity” and “tart citrus” as “unpleasant bitterness”, but I now suspect that’s how the beans are supposed to taste. It certainly explains why I constantly thought the cups were either bitter or weak. I would compensate for perceived bitterness by dropping the water temperature or making the grind coarser, both of which made it taste weak and under-extracted.

For this bag, I have brewed all of my cups with the Switch, using an immersion method. I initially went down the same rabbit hole as before, trying to eliminate “bitterness”, first dropping the temperature to 90, and then 85. Then I tried increasing the grind setting from 3 to 4 (coarser). All of these were watery and lifeless. Eventually, I realized that the problem was more likely with me than the coffee. It’s not so much “bitter” as it is tart, kind of akin to an India Pale Ale. Those were decidedly an acquired taste for me, and so it has gone with this coffee.

I still think that immersion works better than pour-over for this coffee. At grind 3, the water drains through way too fast. Knowing what I know now, though, I wonder if a pour-over would turn out well if I used a really fine grind, like 2 or under. Not sure if I’ll try that with this bag or not. It’s also worth noting that these are the only single-origin beans from Guatemala that I’ve ever brewed. I’m curious if others will behave similarly.