This is a special selection from one of the most innovative farms we've come across. In the cup we find very high sweetness of caramel and chocolate, and a soft stone fruit complexity.
H1 Hybrid
Acatenango
1,650 masl
March, 2021
Hand picked at peak ripeness. Floated to further remove defects and depulped on the day of harvest. Fermented in water for 36 hours. Soaked for an additional 12 hours in fresh water. Dried on patios for 6 days.
This is a new and very exciting beginning for us in Acatenango, Guatemala. We have known of Raul's coffees for years now, and thanks to some mutual friends we were finally able to make an introduction. Raul is a pioneering coffee producer who is passionately interested in innovation, quality, and sustainability. La Llano is 45 hectares (111 acres) and rests in the shadow of the volcano El Fuego alongside 45 hectares of natural forest reserve. We really look forward to continuing to work with Raul and discovering more of what he has in store for this special farm.
H1 is a first-generation (F1) hybrid originating from a cross between rust-resistant T5296 and the Ethiopian landrace variety Rume Sudan. It is resistant to coffee leaf rust, very high yielding, and shows potential for exceptional cup quality. F1 hybrid parents are typically chosen to be genetically distant from one another to maximize what is called hybrid vigor. This translates to high yields and overall vitality (for example, tolerance to frost), without reductions in cup quality or disease resistance. There are only a handful of F1 hybrid coffee varieties in the world—most of which were developed in the last ten years, and only recently made commercially available to farmers.
The cost of getting a coffee from cherry to beverage varies enormously depending on its place of origin and the location of its consumption. The inclusion of price transparency is a starting point to inform broader conversation around the true costs of production and the sustainability of specialty coffee as a whole.