Guatemala Organic Joyabaj Honey

Light Roast

Yellow Nectarine · Lemon Hard Candy · Pineapple Whip

We are excited to introduce the newest addition to our McLaughlin Reserve line, a juicy and candy sweet honey process coffee from the Joyabaj Wet Mill in Guatemala. This special release has a medium-light body and a bright balance of acidity and sweetness, and it's a coffee we're proud to add to our Reserve lineup.

The cup starts with a tart stone fruit brightness, leading with notes of yellow nectarine that set a juicy, fruit-forward tone from the first sip. In the middle, sweet and slightly acidic notes of lemon hard candy add a light citrus brightness that carries the fruit forward. In the finish, the fruit sweetness turns tropical with notes of pineapple whip — smooth, bright, and creamy — lingering long on the palate.

This coffee is a limited release and will only be available through mid-September, so be sure to grab it while it lasts.

$20.00 USD

Out of stock

Secure Checkout With:

Region

1550 Smallholder farmers organized around the Joyabaj Wet Mill

Process

Honey processed, depulped and immediately dried on raised screens in the sun

Variety

Anacafé 14, Bourbon, Catimor, Caturra, Red catuai, Yellow catuai, and Typica

Elevation

1300-2000 masl

This coffee was grown and harvested by organic certified smallholder farmers from Chuaquenun community near the municipality of Joyabaj (pronounced ho-yah-bach”) in southern Quiché, and processed centrally at an experimental wet mill set up in the city center. The wet mill was constructed by a specialty exporter organization, Federación Comercializadora de Café Especial de Guatemala (FECCEG), which represents a number of different smallholder farmer associations across Guatemala. This is the first time that central processing infrastructure has been available to the greater Joyabaj communities, and represents a new investment by FECCEG in the area.

FECCEG has worked with smallholder associations in Chimaltenango for years and had come to know growers in nearby southern Quiché over time, including the Joyabaj area specifically. FECCEG always believed in the quality potential around Joyabaj, where the producer culture has long valued full cherry ripeness and careful selection during harvesting. However, over time FECCEG has witnessed Joyabaj smallholders being overlooked and marginalized by regional investment spent elsewhere. This has led to the migration of many out of the region seeking employment in Guatemala’s other departments or the United States and has steadily drained the agricultural areas of experience and labor. As a result, farms in this area, most of which are less than 2 hectares of coffee and subsistence crops, have remained vulnerable to low prices and without incentives or resources for farm reinvestment.

The long-term goal of the Joyabaj Wet Mill project includes not only reliable, top-quality coffee for export, but also critical aspects of farm sustainability, such as technical assistance, organic certification, entrepreneurship training for women, and community nurseries to rejuvenate coffee canopies.

Once FECCEG identified the opportunity for centralized processing, they sent representatives of their own to collaborate with Joyabaj community leaders and locate the optimal site for the wet mill. This turned out to be in the center of Joyabaj city, where the most resources are available for maintenance, operation, and safety. The mill opened January 2021 and from then through April it processed its first 5,000 quintales of parchment coffee—about 2,400 bags of exportable green coffee.

To reach the mill, cherry is collected by designated couriers among the community, as not every farm has the means to transport their own pickings. Once received, cherry is separated by density using a siphon machine and then depulped. In the case of the honey process microlots, the still-sticky parchment is taken directly from the depulper to solar dryers with raised beds inside for a carefully controlled drying process of about one week, during which it is turned by hand to ensure even dehydration. Once dried, the finished parchment is transported to FECCEG’s main dry mill in Quetzaltenango, where it is coded and stored for quality assessment.

There are many different varieties of coffee in the world. It is generally believed that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and that the Typica variety is the origin of countless varieties that exist today.

When coffee trees are transplanted and grown elsewhere, new varieties become established. These alterations can occur naturally by mutation or be cross-bred into hybrid varieties. Hybrids are crafted to utilize the most desirable characteristics of multiple coffee varieties, such as: disease resistance, drought tolerance, crop yield, tree height and most importantly flavor.

Measured in meters above sea level (masl), elevation is a contributing factor to a coffee's flavor profile and production. As elevation increases, you get cooler nights and sunny days which are beneficial for the trees and result in longer growth times. Additionally, at higher elevation, the volcanic soil tends to be more pure and contains a better concentration of minerals that coffee trees love. With slower development and nutrient rich soil, you get greater intensity of flavors in the final product.

About McLaughlin Reserve

McLaughlin Reserve is a limited time offering that we release quarterly. Each lot in our McLaughlin Reserve collection has been carefully selected for its outstanding quality and unique flavor profiles.

To ensure that these small lot coffees shine, we roast them light, bringing out the best in each origin. This delicate approach to roasting highlights the exceptional flavors that define McLaughlin Reserve

Learn more about McLaughlin Reserve here

Guatemala Organic Joyabaj Honey

About McLaughlin Reserve

You may also like:

Your cart is empty

Your cart is empty