Finca El Tanque
It turns out that this year Guatemala has had some absolute coffee stars in it and amongst them this season (for me personally) is El Tanque. “The Tank”. This coffee has the sweetest and most balanced acidity at this end of the season. So sweet and really enjoyable as espresso or if you are a fan of milk in your coffee this will probably work for you too in cafetiere etc.
Top Trumps:
Owner: Wilian Carillo.
Farm: El Tanque
Region: Huehuetenango
Town: Caserio Cipresales, Aldea El Coyegual, San Antonio Huista
Varietal:Caturra, catuai, paches and bourbon.
Processing: Fully washed and dried on the patio.
Size of Finca:1.3 Hectares
Coffee produced: 28 bags (Sub 2 tons green)
Elevation:1,705-1,785 Meters above sea level.
Rainfall: 2,300 ml./2.3 Meters.
Temperature:16 – 26ºC
Water Supply: Natural spring water
Shade Trees: Chalun
Roasts: Dark filter/ ” Where the espresso works”
and; Light Filter, where it’s bright and beautiful!
Due to the fact that El Tanque is both incredibly sweet and orangy, we wanted to find a place where it would also be both sweet and have enough soluble to cut through milk without going to extremes.
Cup Potential
Espresso:
Lots of orange sweetness, bags of chocolate (not as in big and roasty, but as in…) creamy and viscous, sugar cane, with a long citrus peel finish.
We have been brewing this 1;2. If you are lucky enough to have a traditional machine then 16-17g of coffee into 33-36g of espresso liquid 26-30 seconds.
We have found this really forgiving and easy to dial in.
Filter: Although this is a light roast the body is big, sweet, and really creamy. The acidity is soft, not stark. This is a coffee to drink lots of and often!
Farm Background
Wilian is a second-generation farmer. He grew up working on the family farm, growing coffee. Approximately 3 years ago, Wilian decided that the future of his family and the farm was to embark on growing better quality coffee. Now, El Tanque is more profitable and the journey is in the early stages but improving.
El Tanque is named “the tank” because a community water source is located on the farm, and makes the preservation of the environment on the farm all the more important.
Thoughts from Wilian:
“My entire family is dedicated to farming coffee, but three years ago we realised that they were focused on growing low-quality coffees, meaning that our prices were low and we were earning very little profit. Seeing this problem, I began to innovate and attend training to learn more about focusing on quality coffee. This new experience has helped us as a family, which is why we’re enthusiastic about improving our quality.”
