Guatemala El Socorro Java

We have offered several coffees from the El Socorro y Anexos in past years, and are fortunate enough to have procured it once again. The multi award winning farm is located within a half hour of Guatemala City, in the town of Palencia. The land was bought by Mario de la Cerda in 1960 as part of Hacienda San Guayaba, and later split off to become a separately identified property. Today, both farms are owned and operated by a father and son team, Juan and Juan Diego de la Cerda. The El Socorro farm is certified by Rainforest Alliance, and all wetmill, drying and milling is done on site. The farm is a total of 700 hectares, but only 85 are used for coffee production. A like amount of land is used for dairy farming, and the balance is a nature reserve for wild regional species and migratory birds.

Of note is the farm's unusual and highly effective processing technique for all of their coffee. The farm is at a high altitude, and can get very hot during the day. By contrast, the natural springs on the farm used in the wetmill provide very cold water. Juan and Juan Diego came to feel that plunging the hot, freshly harvested cherries into the cold spring water was causing two problems: shock and extended fermentation time, both of which they felt to be injurious to the final cup. Instead, they experimented with washing the harvested coffee in warm water, settling on a temperature nearly the same as the cherries' internal temperature (about 100 degrees F). This eased the cherries into a gradual cooling period and reduced the fermentation cycle to a 24-48 hour time span. The result is a striking, intensely fruity and floral profile.

This thoughtful approach to coffee preparation has not gone unnoticed. El Socorro y Anexos has won an award in the Cup of Excellence Competition 8 times in the past 12 years, and even placed first in 2007 and 2011. This year the farm took 2nd Place with a washed geisha. While this specific offering has not won an award, we think this coffee still shows the care and attention common to the award winners.

Despite its long history of cultivation the Java varietal is not widely known. Originally thought to be a Typica until genetic testing revealed it to be a selection from an Ethiopian Landrace population called Abyssinia (World Coffee Research) the variety was introduced to the island of Java directly from Ethiopia by the Dutch in the early 19th century. The Java variety is becoming a good growing option for smallholder farms, who use fewer inputs, as it is resistant to coffee leaf rust and coffee berry disease. In the mid-20th century, it was brought to Cameroon from Java, then planted in Costa Rica in 1991, its introduction into Central America. There are some flavor characteristics found in Geisha, also of Ethiopia origin, but Java is not as delicate nor as floral. It is an easily accessible, exotic variety with a deeply rooted history. 

• Department: Guatemala
• Municipality: Palencia
• Altitude: 5050-6100 Feet above sea level (1540-1860 masl)
• Coffee Variety: Java
• Processing: Washed
• Harvest: January-April