Coffee tasting trips and harvest-oriented trips don’t really line up. That didn’t stop me from trying.
This was an extended trip, the last of coffee competitions for 2006 I judged, and a lot of time away from home. These kinds of trips are odd, because when it’s time to taste coffees, the harvest is finished. On the farm there is not a lot to see. I went anyway…
fancy bird fancy bird’s friend. We stayed at a fancy place in Antigua and they offered free pictures of fancy birds like this. welcome to antigua guatemala 
what a nice way to keep people out. better than chain link. angus and eva, 2 crazy crazy midgets from portland (ie duane and jereme’s midgets) a series of paintings, portraying divine interventions. very nice. a series of paintings, portraying divine interventions. roadside vw bug breakdown. a series of paintings, portraying divine interventions. a series of paintings, portraying divine interventions. my husband was a bum, now he helps clean the house! a series of paintings, portraying divine interventions. at the coop arts place in antigua, a very nice store to buy stuff from around the country. 3/4 lifesize dolls. nice trucks, too heavy for suitcases oh, scarey main cathedral, antigua. on the main square. Spent time walking around Antigua aimlessly. What a weird place. typical streets. antigua is probably 1 step up from new orleans and very accessible, too accessible and too american some people might complain. but it still a nice place, if a bit swank coffee beans. signs in english again, beautiful compounds Antigua is still as beautiful as ever, even though there is a large area catering to rich Guatemalans and out-of-towners. think you have it rough, suburban skate rat? where else can you find a micro roaster that hulls/peels his own coffee from parchment right before roasting? fernando’s cafe in antigua guatemala. micro roasters that fernando built funny cafe with little roasters. fernando knew of sweet maria’s. really nice guy. Probably the fattest dog i have ever seen in central america 2 tired guys, 2 solders favorite tree the fancy place we stayed were seminary ruins the place was excavated, many of the crypts are intact, some reconstructed headstone a subterrainean vault a vaultee in their museum, incredible statures jesus with wounds, remarkable woodcarvings on the way from antigua to guatemala city we found wonderland. but we didn’t have time for tea, we were late, late! irish night club? guatemala city? we stayed at the crowne plaza (the extra “e” means it is fancy) and cupped at anacafe headquarters. anacafe is the guatemala coffee association. here are their kick-but former presidents stephen of mercanta, british coffee importer. gabriella, who coordinated the event for anacafe. paul songer, the head judge geoff watts, the people’s favorite robert of oslo leah from malaysia and the person from inter-american germany. duane prepares to spit peter from george howell’s terroir coffee masahisa from japan the young mr hayashi. i mean, maruyama. matsumoto, from wataru a day trip out to finca rabanales in fraijanes region bamboo. me like it. me have lotsa it. the dog’s grave? el vencedor means the victor. i think it was part of some family challenge. choice old-school coffee farm because its flat. beautiful new coffee foliage, probably caturra (green tips, ie green new leaf as opposed to bronze new leafs) view down a slop into the forest. there is a quarry across the way. the area is getting subdivided and developed since it is so close to guatemala city. i can’t resist pictures like this. mr. duh in a nice old land cruiser sudden rain, we had to beat it back to the hacienda bear up bison, never say die. traditional wood stove and oven, on the patio old hand-crank coffee pulper of wood, circa 1880, Guatemala uh, giant rat with horns? and if you think this is scarey, move in closer … scree! tineke takes a picture and … open air conveyance. a truckload o’ cuppers yoshi, right back at ya’ old john gordon coffee mill, mostly wood. the left is caracol, peaberry. the right is gordo, oversize, perhaps maragogype. they make em good in texas, guatemala.
A Little Story: Coffee Travelers Lament – Part 1
I bought a pair of Ray-ban sunglasses at Costco. I went on a trip to El SalvadorEl Salvador coffee had an undeservingly poor reputation for years, marred mostly by the inability to deliver coffee of high quality in an unstable political climate. Unfortunately, agriculture... ...more and to GuatemalaGuatemalan coffee is considered a top quality coffee producer in Central America. Due to our proximity to Guatemala, some of the nicest coffees from this origin come to... ...more to cup coffees. The chances of returning with Costco Ray-bans still in my possession were slim. I am resigned to this: spend money on decent sunglasses and you will invariably lose them. Pay a few bucks for trashy ones, and when you lose them, you won’t even stop to care.
But here I lie at the rusticA general characterization of pleasantly "natural" flavors, less sophisticated and less refined, but appealing. : What is Rustic? This is a general term we came up with... Dried... ...more and remote Crowne Plaza in Guatemala City, the last night of the 2-week excursion, and there I see a pair of Ray-bans, slightly tweaked. Dreams come true!
Did you ever wish for something you never really wanted and then you got it and realized that you are crazy not to want it, so basically, you are nuts. Well, that’s the kind of problem you can hash out in between cuppingCupping is a method of tasting coffee by steeping grounds in separate cups for discrete amounts of ground coffee, to reveal good flavors and defects to their fullest.... ...more sessions because while you actually taste coffee there is little computing power to spare. The fact is, what dogs do effortlessly, process sensory input, and takes every anemic little brain cell I have. You ask yourself over and over “I know that! What is that? I can’t remember. It’s so familiar. What the hell is that?” You may also wander a bit and wonder where you are, how you got here, and what exactly ARE you doing anyway. And those questions might be easier to answer than the task at hand.
Anyway, much underwear is knotted up over this coffee tasting stuff (woe to the inspector who opens this coffee tasters suitcase).
Traveling is recognition of outsider-ness. I am an out-of-towner. I am an alien. I wish I could understand. I am reading all of the clues. There seems to be so many signs, telling me, but really there is a silence everywhere. What does it mean to photograph all these small businesses, stalls, carts, decipher their signs, see what they offer, how they offer it. It is certainly the most accessible signifier for the out-of-towner. But it says little. I am like a foreign part, something extraneous from another machine. This machine makes no sense. Incompatible technologies. My machine is just an overrepresented culture. They have heard of it too, and they don’t get it.
hot dog with arms how are we rating samples? paul lets us know. trying to show respect, but mr. owen seems like he is mocking eduardo, breaks a cup at anacafe lab. a sieve shaker and screens for coffee, either ground or whole bean the lab at anacafe. sample huller to peel coffee out of parchment, anacafe. enough sample roasting capacity??? 2 probatino roasters, 2 4 barrel probats. thats 10 samples at once, and about $50,000 of machines you are looking at. anacafe lab Rebroducing coffee plants sans the seed. This is combined with whatever selction technique you use (genetic level manipulation or not). Basically seedless reproduction of coffee from plant material. looking over the results of test tube coffee reproduction. another view labeling of soil-less and seed-less plant reproduction. I am not sure if we are talking genetic manipulation here, just controlled plant growth from cells, rather than seeds. more of the same nematode analysis – looking for nematodes and checking root health in coffee plants coffee plant roots, close up. coffee has an extensive, widespread root system, and a deep tap root. royal blend coffee? no, gas chromatography and mass spectography lab at anacafe soil analysis for coffee plants california man, or the fonz we volunteered to test anacafe’s new computer tablet based scoring system. here is stephen hurst from mercanta and in the background hidetaka hayashi, from hayashi coffee institute a little rain storm in guat city oops, angus of portland fell and hit his head on the corner of a chest in the hotel. a sidetrip with geoff watts to talleres rea, a roaster manufacturer table top scale model of a guardiola, a drum dryer oh no, who is this guy, and why do i suddenly want to buy everything in sight? the sample huller we saw … this is where it comes from small roaster the same small rea roaster, around 2 kilo capacity. the shop, not exactly up to osha. yes, dude, star wars. roaster base for a 10 kilo machine small drum design workplace inspiration for guatemala macho man a rather large coffee roaster machine at talleres REA, Guatemala, around 2 bag capacity the parts locker uh, at the award ceremony. i had to give a short speech and response was overwhelming. it was hard to keep them from hoisting me upon their shoulders. thumbs up from california man the coolest guy at the awards, by far. the national cupping jury. all the winning farmers. tuff guy and his tuff daughter. and their fans next morning on the way to finca agua tibia in fraijanes, mmm…. entrance gates to finca agua tibia it is a huge farm with coffee as a small part of it, and a lot of prize-winning cattle. in the trophy room. there is no “coffee” trophy room here. makes sense to me incredible peacocks hiding in rafters baby cattle baby cattle noses baby cattle bling-bling
Coffee Travelers Lament:
Part 2, El Salvador
-El Salvador – I am not quite sure what it means to travel “internationally” anymore. When you leave the airport and see Holiday Inns, Intercontinentals, KFCs, Cinnabon, Taco Bell, Burger King, and of course McDonalds … well, where are you?
I guess that is why I seek out everything anachronistic, all the hand painted signs for incomprehensible businesses. They make me happy, they make me feel I am somewhere else. I was trying to explain to a couple fellow coffee judges why my iPod music playlist when I travel contains no marimba music, no native flutes, no samba, no salsa .
No, I listen to Iron Maiden and old Metallica, Pipe Organ Musciale and Private Press Lounge Singers from the ‘60s, Califiornia Hot Rod and Surf, and a million unknown Japanese bands.
Why? For the same reason; I feel like an alien, and that I don’t belong. What is wrong with being from a different culture, asking for help because you don’t understand (or at last asking for someone to speak Spanish more slowly).
Why should people speak English to me when I want to learn better Spanish anyway, Because I am afraid of a place where I am not in charge, where I can’t go anywhere and order a double raspberry latteAn espresso-based beverage with steamed silky milk on top, averaging 190-220 ml with 20 ml espresso, served in a ceramic cup or bowl, or a giant giant paper cup. ...more or find the nearest Gap?
Well, Latin America is becoming that place too and I only hope it is because the people genuinely want that. Otherwise, there is something sad about all these new sub developments, and malls. Still I must say, the French fries at a Guatemalan McDonalds kick ass (they use real lard to fry them).
Sorry for the lament. Let’s move on.
baby cattle bling-bling this place is incredibly beautiful old cistern the patio for drying at the agua tibia mill the wet mill and fermentation tanks luis roberto oversees the coffee operation at agua tibia fresh water source for the wet mill the stumped coffee tree reveals the age of these plants most everything is under shade, 12 foot typica trees, mr duh old growth typica cultivar coffee at finca agua tibia, 20 feet tall. schoolhouse 
bob esponga, at the worker’s schoolhouse for agua tibia farm california ivy , california guy lake view on the way to the mill serben mill is where all our agua tibia coffee is processed loading a lot- actually this IS our lot they were milling while I was there. dickey john moisture meter. they say it works good for green coffee. jabez burns 3 barrel sample roaster near guatemala city 
here is a matched pair of probats, 15 kilo coffee roasters from the late 1950s. i encountered these in fraijanes region small 1 or 2 kilo roaster. i think this is produced by tallereas rea in guatemala city. macho, macho man i would like a haircut from ebenezer, but alas he was closed guatemala city guatemala city on sunday, pony rides on the avenue crazy flash effect in pony eye superhero outfits for sale on the street, awaiting some superheros to come by and purchase them a very good use of tires inspiring display at the mall. can it get any more exciting big parade of evangelical school bands. work it, ladies. there is a demand hot dogs for rich folks, or his name is rico.
Winning Farms 2006 Cup of ExcellenceThe Cup of Excellence is a competition held yearly in many coffee-producing countries, designed to highlight the very best coffees from each origin.: The Cup of Excellence (COE)... ...more -Guatemala
Lot # Farm Farmer Score Lot Size*
- 1 El Injerto 1 El Injerto, S. A. 92.57 16
- 2 La Merced FincaSpanish 101: Finca is the Spanish word for farm. Sometimes the term Hacienda is used to imply an Estate, which would mean the farm has its own wet-mill.... ...more La Merced, S. A. 91.07 20
- 3 Asturias Plant. Asturias, S. A. 90.45 13
- 4 La Perla Y Anexos Finca La Perla Y Anexos, S. A. 90.43 17
- 5 Las Nubes Diez De Mayo, S. A. 90.19 13
- 6 Carmona Carmona, S. A. 89.80 15
- 7 El Potrerito Lima Rosales, Elmer 89.32 13
- 8 La Soledad Y Anexo Perez Melendez, Enio Raul 89.18 13
- 9 Carlos Morales Alvarado, Carlos 88.55 15
- 10 Valparaiso Perez Lima, Ernesto 85.45 15
- 11 Los Quequezques Agroind. Magna, S. A. 87.09 20
- 12 Viviano Gutierrez Vasquez, Viviano 86.91 15
- 13 Pachujul Ramirez Yataz, Jose 86.27 15
- 14 El Bosque De San Gerardo Inversiones Estrategicas, S. A. 85.36 16
- 15 La Labor Y Anexo Empresa Rancho Dulce, S. A. 85.34 21
- 16 Chichupac Asociacion C. De Estudios E Inv. P. El D. Y La Paz 85.30 16
- 17 El Platanar Y Anexo De La Roca Perez, Hector 85.23 14
- 18 Daniel Morales Alvarado, Daniel 85.11 19
- 19 Santa Isabel Y Anexos Jinaya, S. A. 85.07 15
- 20 Asoc. De Caficultores De San Cristobal Y Tamahu Actasa 84.50 16
- 21 Retana Y Anexos Finca Retana Y Anexos, S. A. 84.45 13
- 22 San Jorge Lemus Pineda, Tulio 84.41 21
- 23 El Retiro Finca El Retiro Del Quisaya, S. A. 84.11 20
- 24 San Rafael Urias Valdes Valdes Salvatierra, Hnos. 84.09 17
- 25 El Bosque Y Anexo Diaz Schwarz, Roberto 84.09 15
International Coffee Cuppers for Guatemala 2006
- Head Judge
- Paul Songer USA ACE
- North America
- Christy Thorns USA Allegro Coffee Co.
- Vincent Iatesta USA Caffe Pronto
- Katie Downey USA Port City JavaThere are several types of Abyssinia variety coffee, but they are not from Ethiopia but rather Indonesia. Abyssinia 3 = AB3. PJS Cramer, a Dutch plant researcher, introduced this variety... ...more
- Jason Long USA Café Imports
- Peter Lynagh USA Terroir Coffee
- Tim Hunter USA Olympia Coffee Co.
- Tom Owen USA Sweet Maria’s Coffee
- Geoff Watts USA Intelligentsia
- Duane Sorenson USA Stumptown
- Europe
- Thomas Stehl Germany Rehm & Company
- Mirella Cielek Germany InterAmerican Coffee
- Robert Thoreson Norway Kaffa AS, Oslo
- Jan Schuitemaker Netherlands de Mélangerie
- Tineke Jansen Netherlands De Eenhoorn koffie en thee
- Stephen Hurst UK Mercanta The Coffee Hunters
- Asia
- Kentaro Maruyama Japan Maruyama Coffee
- Keita Matsumoto Japan Wataru & Co., Ltd.
- Yoshihito Kato Japan Bontain Coffee Co., Ltd.
- Masahisa Asano Japan TOA Coffee., Ltd.
- Hidetaka Hayashi Japan Hayashi Coffee Institute
- Leah Warren Malaysia San Francisco Coffee
- Observers
- Vladamir Savinov UK SFT Trading Ltd.
- Tatsuya Inoue Japan Voila Coffee/Inoue Coffee Corp.
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