Origin Story:

This special carbonic maceration lot was processed in Ayarza, Santa Rosa. In Guatemala, coffee is traditionally processed individually by smallholder farmers, making it difficult to manage and guarantee quality from lot to lot. The team in Ayarza works with numerous farmers in the region, paying a premium for ripe cherry and processing it centrally to maintain strict standards throughout.

Arnaldo López (56) is one of the many producers at Ayarza cherry mill and has been involved in coffee production business his entire life. His father took him into the field to plant coffee trees as a child. Now Arnaldo has five children of his own and the cultivation of coffee has provided a platform for the family to grow and improve their quality of life.

Arnaldo farms 12.6ha of land and production has varied greatly over the years. Like many farmers in this current crop the volume is down compared to prior years. Two factors have driven this decrease - large crops from the year before and disease attacking some of the traditional varieties. The new varieties (Anacafe 14 and others) that are being planted have shown more production and disease resistance. Arnaldo has pushed through these adversities with the financial support of a livestock trade and an extra income from the small supply store run by his wife Alicia Trigueros.

Carbonic maceration is a wine-making technique that uses whole grapes instead of crushing. This process helps fermentation and produces a fruity, acidic wine. The same applies to coffee. The whole cherry is added to the fermentation tank and sealed from oxygen for the carbonic maceration process. 

The coffee will ferment in the drum under anaerobic conditions. As the coffee ferments, the sugars are broken down by bacteria into carbon dioxide and alcohol. As more carbon dioxide is produced, the pressure within the system increases. A valve must be installed to allow for the excess pressure to be released without the addition of oxygen into the chamber. The valve is a simple tube that is put in a bottle of water, allowing carbon dioxide to release while keeping air from entering the system. Once the fermentation has reached a nice balance the coffee is dried on red clay patios until it reaches about 11% moisture. 

If you would like to know more about the carbonic maceration process and what this means to your coffee, we have a guide on our blog!