Guatemala Blue Ayarza Anaerobic 12oz coffee bag, anaerobic natural light roast with cordial cherry, mulled wine, and chocolate sourdough

Workers raking whole coffee cherry on concrete drying patios below green hills, natural process coffee in Guatemala

Aerial view of a coffee mill with a blue warehouse surrounded by forested hills, Guatemala

Doctor with a stethoscope examining a young child held by a woman at a health clinic, Guatemala

Smiling kids gathered around a wooden desk in a classroom with tin walls, Guatemala

Kids lined up with cups as a woman serves a drink from a large pot outside a school, Guatemala

Guatemala Blue Ayarza Anaerobic

Smallholders around Laguna de Ayarza, a crater lake in Guatemala's Santa Rosa department, sell their ripe cherry to a mill near the lake, the same one behind our washed Blue Ayarza. For this lot the mill sealed whole cherries in bag liners for five days, letting carbon dioxide out while keeping oxygen from getting in, and then dried them on patios with all the fruit still attached, which is where the funk comes from. It drinks like cordial cherry, mulled wine, and chocolate sourdough, with a juicy body and acidity that runs boozy and a little tropical. On our flavor board it got summed up as Christmastime funky, and we haven't found a better way to say it.

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This coffee came through the same mill near Laguna de Ayarza as the washed Blue Ayarza we released in September, and it ended up about as far from that coffee as two lots from one mill can get. The lake fills a volcanic crater in Guatemala's Santa Rosa department, and locals call it the blue lake, which is where the Blue Ayarza name comes from. Our import partners at Covoya, who help us bring this coffee to the States, only give that label to high-grown coffee picked in late winter and early spring.

More than a thousand growers farm the slopes around the lake, most of them smallholders, and this lot comes from the upper end of that range, between 1,600 and 2,000 meters. Coffee here has traditionally been processed farm by farm, so Covoya buys the cherry instead, pays a premium for the ripe stuff, and processes it at its cherry mill near Ayarza. The trees are a mix of Bourbon, Catuai, Anacafe 14, and Pache, a compact Typica mutation first found in 1949 on a farm in this same department. Near the mill, Covoya also funds a year-round health clinic, and with other donors it supports coffee kindergartens where kids can be in class while their parents pick, with 481 enrolled across Guatemala.

For this lot, the mill sealed whole ripe cherries into recycled hermetic bag liners inside a second polypropylene bag and left them for 120 hours. That setup lets carbon dioxide vent out without letting oxygen in, which is what anaerobic means, and five days is a long time for the fruit to ferment around the seed. From there the cherries went out to the patios in thin layers for about ten days, then finished in a mechanical dryer.

On our cupping table it came through as cordial cherry, mulled wine, and chocolate sourdough, with boozy cherry, fruitcake, and black currant around them and a little kiwi in the acidity. The body is juicy, and the board summed it up as Christmastime funky.

Producer: Smallholder farmers, Covoya's Ayarza cherry mill
Region: Laguna de Ayarza, Santa Rosa, Guatemala
Altitude: 1,600-2,000 MASL
Variety: Anacafe 14, Bourbon, Catuai, Pache
Processing Method: Anaerobic natural, 120-hour cherry fermentation, patio and mechanically dried

Guatemala Blue Ayarza Anaerobic

$25.00

Tasting Notes

Cordial Cherry, Mulled Wine, and Chocolate Sourdough

Roast Level

Light

Body

Juicy

Acidity

Boozy, Tropical

What does anaerobic mean?
Without oxygen. The whole cherries were sealed in bags for five days to ferment before drying, with carbon dioxide able to vent out but no air getting in. Shutting out the air changes which flavors develop, and it's why this coffee tastes so much fruitier and more winey than a washed coffee.
What's natural process?
The coffee dries inside the whole cherry instead of having the fruit removed first. It usually pushes fruit and sweetness forward.
How is this different from the washed Blue Ayarza?
Same lake, same mill, same four varieties. The washed lot had its fruit taken off and got washed clean, and it drinks like chocolate and nuts. This one fermented five days in the cherry and dried with the fruit on, so you get cherry, mulled wine, and fruitcake instead.
Mulled wine and boozy cherry? Is there alcohol in it?
No. Those are flavors that come out of the long fermentation, the same way a very ripe cherry can taste a little like wine. Nothing is added.
Is it funky?
Yes, and that's the point of this lot. If you like natural wines, sour beers, or dark fruit, it's a good place to start. If you want a smooth, easy everyday cup, the washed Blue Ayarza is the better bag.
Where does it come from?
Smallholder farms on the slopes around Laguna de Ayarza, a crater lake in Santa Rosa, southeastern Guatemala, between about 1,600 and 2,000 meters. The growers sell their ripe cherry to a mill near the lake run by our import partners at Covoya, who help us bring this coffee to the States.
What does Blue Ayarza mean?
It's Covoya's name for high-grown coffee from around Laguna de Ayarza that's picked in late winter and early spring. Locals call the lake the blue lake.
What's Pache?
A compact natural mutation of Typica that was first found in 1949 on a farm in Santa Rosa, the same part of Guatemala this coffee comes from. It's one of four varieties in this lot, along with Bourbon, Catuai, and Anacafe 14.

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12 ounces

~18 cups

2 pounds

~48 cups

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~121 cups

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