Filter: Guatemala Finca Gardenia Marsellesa Natural

This coffee comes from our friends from Primavera. It’s our second Natural lot from Guatemala this season. Marsellesa is a hybrid formed from Timor and Villa Sarchi (Sarchimor) and is well known for its delicate flavors but also its resistance to leaf rust. For us it’s a first-time and we expect some deliciousness like fresh cherry aroma, funky tropicals, white peach and sweet aftertaste.

Finca La Gardenia is owned by Eddy MacDonald Lopez and is situated high in the mountains in a pristine natural environment, with preserving nature is at the heart of the farm’s operations. Eddy seeks to preserve the trees on the farm and the various animal and bird species that rely on these trees, as well as ensuring that there is no contamination of nearby sources of spring water. They even see Quetzals, the famously beautiful Guatemalan national bird on the farm. 

The farm has sought various environmental certifications such as Rainforest Alliance to verify its mission to conserve the delicate ecosystems of Huehuetenango. In addition to sustainability, coffee quality is a key priority for Eddy and his family. The farm works with exotic varieties and different processes in order to showcase the unique
potential of the region’s coffee. By carefully monitoring every stage of the process, Finca Gardenia is able to produce outstanding quality coffees.

Marsellesa was developed through a hybrid of Sarchimor and Caturra. It’s highly valued for its high quality in the cup and resistance to leaf rust, thanks to its Sarchimor heritage. This coffee is characterised by high acidity and a resilience to high rain fall during harvest, where varietals like catuai and caturra might lose some cherry under high rainfall. It's a coffee with not only exceptional taste attributes, but also excellent yields and disease resistance.

This coffee is harvested at peak maturity and the cherries are placed on the patio to begin drying about four hours on average after harvest. The first five days of drying are done on the patio in the sun, where it remains in the sun from 9 AM to 3 PM each day. Workers turn the coffee every hour to ensure thorough and even drying. After the first five days on the patio, the coffee is moved to African-style raised beds to finish drying. On the beds, the drying pods rest from 9 AM to 4 PM and still must be turned hourly. Once the coffee has been drying for a total of 22 days, the drying process is complete. The coffee is then stored in clean sacks until it is ready to be delivered to the
warehouse and moved to the mill. Naturals are hulled at Primavera's dry mill in Fraijanes.