Guatemala Coffee Beans

Guaranteed Freshness: Our Guatemala Huehuetenango 100% Arabica beans are meticulously selected and freshly roasted to order, ensuring optimal freshness and preserving their exceptional flavour profile.

Versatile Enjoyment: Enjoy our Guatemala coffee beans as an espresso or long black for a bold and intense flavour, or savour the smooth and creamy texture in a flat white or cappuccino. Whether you prefer the richness of an espresso shot or the velvety foam of a cappuccino, our Guatemala coffee beans offer a versatile brewing experience to satisfy every coffee lover's craving.

Crafted with Precision: Sourced and roasted by dedicated coffee artisans, our coffee beans embody the passion and expertise of Coffee Beans Shop Australia roasters. Each batch undergoes meticulous roasting to perfection, ensuring a consistently delicious and satisfying cup of coffee every time.

Elevated Experience: Immerse yourself in the unique and vibrant flavours of Guatemala's coffee heritage with each sip. Experience the richness and complexity that define Guatemala's coffee beans, delivering a truly exceptional coffee experience.

Growing Guatemala Coffee Beans

You can’t think about Central American coffee without thinking about the perfectly balanced, strong yet sweet, full-bodied coffee cultivated in Guatemala. Known for their distinct flavour profiles, there is a regional variety to suit every coffee lover.

Unlike many of its Central American neighbours, Guatemala took a little longer to commercialise its coffee production but is now one of the world’s top coffee producers. Today, Guatemala coffee plantations can be found in 20 of the 22 departments (similar to states) and account for 40% of the nations’ agricultural revenue.

Guatemala has extremely diverse regions, with plateaus and mountain ranges, rain forests and coastlines. There are at least 37 volcanoes scattered throughout the country, and it has a mostly tropical climate. Some regions average 125+ rain days per year, whereas others can expect less than half of that. Each of these characteristics supports a different method of cultivating coffee. The differences in altitudes, warm weather, and mineral-rich soil ensure that Guatemalan coffee is as unique as the landscape itself.

There are eight central Guatemala coffee regions, each with a distinct growing environment thanks to the country’s diversity. Antigua, Guatemala has a reputation as one of the best places in the world to grow coffee. The region is surrounded by three volcanoes, making the soil extremely fertile and rich in minerals. Although their rainfall is lower than the national average, the soil’s volcanic ash retains water providing crops with more than enough to flourish.

Some interestingly diverse Guatemalan coffee characteristics of each coffee region are;

• Antigua Coffee – Medium acidity with vibrant, spicy, velvety flavour.
• Acatenango Coffee – Sweet with tart, tangy fruit acidity with caramel and citrus undertones.
• Atitlan Coffee – Medium acidity with a rich floral aroma and notes of spice.
• Volcan San Marcos Coffee – Refined and delicate, with a pronounced floral tone.
• Fraijanes Plateau Coffee – Mellow acidity slight citrus notes with a caramel finish.
• Nuevo Oriente Coffee– Medium acidity with nutty, chocolate tones and a hint of red berries
• Coban Rainforest Coffee – Full body with light fruity acidity and rich spiced notes.
• Huehuetenango Coffee – Light acidity with a floral aroma but buttery finish.

For a country that suffered decades of civil unrest, Guatemala has indeed come into its own over the past 25 years and is now producing exquisite coffee the world loves.

Guatemala Coffee Bean Production and Harvesting

Due to contrasting growing environments, coffee harvests start around November and can continue all the way into April, depending on the location of the farms in Guatemala. This variation in harvesting times means there is never a shortage of Guatemalan coffee available.

Each Guatemalan coffee region has slightly different harvesting and production process. Like most other Central American coffee farmers, Guatemalan’s also handpick their berries to ensure the perfect ripeness.

All coffee in Guatemala is washed through a standard wet process. Guatemala has historically ‘washed clean’ their coffee beans; this means completely removing the skin, pulp and mucilage (a thick, gooey secretion) of the berry. However, the rise in popularity of honeying coffee (not removing the pulp thoroughly before drying) has seen many Guatemalan coffee producers change their wet process.

As so much of the country has constant rainfall, drying coffee can be difficult. In regions such as Antigua and Acatenango, there are enough sunny days for the beans to be dried via sunlight. However, even when it’s not raining in regions such a Coban, there is a light mist (the chipi-chipi) that sits low over the farms in Guatemala and never entirely clear. In these wetter regions, they depend on hot air barrels to dry their beans.

In the 1960s a coffee growers union, the Anacafé, was created. Their purpose is to govern and regulate the farming, production, and marketing methods used in each region and conduct research and secure financial support when needed. Because of the work the Anacafé do, the Guatemalan coffee industry continues to grow and evolve.

Is Guatemala coffee Arabica?

According to the Anacafé website, around 96% of coffee cultivated in Guatemala is Arabica. There has been a rise in Fine-Robusta being growing due to the low altitude areas. Although standard Robusta has traditionally been looked down at by coffee enthusiasts, Fine-Robusta has started to gain interest.

Guatemala vs Colombia coffee – which is better?

Colombian coffee beans are ubiquitous and well-known, they have almost exact flavour notes and produce a traditional brew. Guatemala coffee beans is praised for is more balanced tones with fruiter aromas and a chocolatey finish.

What does Guatemala coffee taste like?

Guatemalan coffee is known for its chocolatey flavour notes, combined with floral or citrus aromas. Sometimes nutty with hints of dark chocolate or sweet with buttery milk chocolate tones, the diverse under-tones depend on which Guatemalan coffee region the beans have been grown.

Is Guatemala coffee good?

Guatemalan coffee is favoured by both coffee fanatics and moderate coffee lovers. It's full-body is perfectly balanced, with a strong yet sweet finish that is both flavoursome and easy to drink.