FloraCoffee Bean Intro:

 Guatemala Antigua La Minita La Folie

Guatemala Antigua Flora

Region: Antigua Volcanic Zone

Farm: La Minita

Exported under the brand "Flora" by the La Minita Group

Varieties: Caturra, Bourbon

Altitude: 1200-1600 meters

Grade: Strictly Hard Bean (SHB)

Processing Method: Washed Process

Guatemala is located in the Central American isthmus, with many volcanoes forming high mountains and plateaus, producing high-quality Central American high-altitude strictly hard coffee beans. It is the world’s 9th largest coffee-producing country.

The main coffee-growing regions in Guatemala include Antigua, Huehuetenango, Atitlan, Coban, Fraijanes, and Acatenango—the seven major regions. All the coffee beans produced in Guatemala’s seven coffee regions are Arabica, grown in highland areas with subtropical climates, featuring stable and abundant rainfall and fertile volcanic ash soil, creating ideal natural conditions for coffee cultivation across the country.

Flora is a branded bean under the La Minita company, grown in the Antigua region of Guatemala, surrounded by active volcanoes at an altitude of 1850 meters. It is the country’s most award-winning and famous coffee-growing region.

Introduction to the Antigua Region

In Antigua, summer brings little rainfall, and winter can occasionally be so cold that frost forms. These conditions are not particularly suitable for coffee tree growth. However, fortunately, the region lies within an active volcanic zone. When volcanoes erupt, lightweight volcanic pumice falls into the soil. As it cools, its many tiny pores help retain moisture exceptionally well. Additionally, the farm plants numerous shade trees, protecting the coffee trees from winter cold damage. These factors, along with significant day-night temperature variations, create a unique microclimate in Antigua, giving the coffee beans a subtle smoky flavor and rich fruity aroma.

La Minita is renowned for its excellent farming and processing techniques, as well as extremely strict quality control. Adhering to these standards, they entrust the largest washed coffee processing plant in Antigua, Las Pastores, to process the green beans. The resulting coffee beans are named Flora. In addition to preserving the original regional flavors, the dry aroma carries a strong floral and tea scent. Upon tasting, there’s a lime acidity and berry flavor, followed by a honey-like finish. Exceptional cleanliness and rich layering are the hallmarks of this Flora.

Coffee Cultivation at La Minita Farm

La Minita Farm does not use pesticides, and due to the farm’s geographical advantages—its climate and altitude—the environmental conditions limit the number of pests. The few pests present do not significantly harm the coffee trees. As the rainy season nears its end, the coffee cherries begin to ripen, turning from green to red. However, coffee cherry ripening is very slow and uneven, unlike flowering, which is rapid and uniform. Therefore, harvesting requires even more careful attention, picking only fully ripe, deep-red cherries.

In addition, applying trace elements such as zinc, boron, and copper provides the coffee trees with additional nutrients and disease prevention. This scientific cultivation management results in the outstanding flavor performance of Flora coffee and its consistent quality over the years. Following La Minita’s famous quality control procedures, the entire process—from planting to packaging—is strictly supervised to ensure that the beans processed at the Pastores plant are of the highest quality, with strict oversight of the farm’s standard operating procedures.

The Antigua region itself is the most famous of Guatemala’s seven major coffee-growing regions. With its high altitude, unique volcanic soil, and shaded cultivation, the coffee beans from Antigua have a distinctive and unique regional flavor.

Washed Processing Method (Full Washed)

1. Removing Floaters: Pour the coffee beans into a large water tank. Underdeveloped, low-quality beans will float to the surface, while mature, plump beans will sink. Remove the floating beans to complete this step.

2. Removing Pulp and Flesh: Use a depulper to remove the outer skin and flesh of the coffee fruit. (The mucilage, parchment, and silver skin remain.)

3. Fermentation: This step aims to biologically remove the mucilage. Place the depulped coffee fruit into a fermentation tank for 16–36 hours. Fermentation bacteria dissolve the mucilage.

4. Washing: After fermentation and mucilage removal, fermentation bacteria and impurities remain on the beans, so they are washed again. This step consumes a large amount of clean water to ensure thorough cleaning.

5. Drying and Hulling: Dry the coffee fruit until the moisture content drops to 10–14%. Then use a hulling machine to remove the remaining parchment and silver skin, completing the processing.

Green Bean & Curve Analysis

The varieties of Guatemala Flora are mainly Bourbon and Caturra. Bourbon, along with Typica, is one of the ancient, high-quality coffee varieties. Compared to Typica, the beans are smaller and rounder.

Caturra has a lemon or citrus acidity and lower sweetness compared to Typica and Bourbon. Its sweetness depends on the frequency and amount of fertilizer applied by growers. It has high yield potential, but maintaining that yield requires continuous fertilization and pruning, resulting in shorter trees with many branches. Although yield is increased, the two-year harvest cycle and higher care costs limit overall production.

These green coffee beans are round and slightly yellowish-green, with good uniformity and medium moisture content. The goal of First Step Roasters’ roasting is a medium roast—to preserve bright acidity, showcase floral and fruity aromas, and enhance richness and balance.

The roaster is set to 210°C when the beans are loaded, with the air vent at 4 and the heat at 140. The turning point is at 1'28", and when the roaster reaches 140°C, the heat remains unchanged while the air vent is opened to 6. At this point, the bean surface turns yellow, and the grassy smell completely disappears, entering the drying phase. At 166°C, the heat is reduced to 60, and at 176°C, it is reduced to 20, with the air vent unchanged.

At 8'28", the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and black spots, and the toast smell clearly transitions to coffee aroma, marking the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the first crack sound. At 9'00", first crack begins. Adjust the air vent to 10 (be very careful with heat adjustment—do not reduce it to the point where cracking stops). After first crack, development lasts 2'30", and the beans are dropped at 195°C.

Agtron bean color value: 66.8 (top image), Agtron crema color value: 76.9 (bottom image), Roast Delta value: 10.1.