THE PRODUCER
The farm is overseen by Ricardo Zeyala and family who are the forth generation to cultivate coffee in the Antigua region. They have gained a reputation for quality coffee, achieved by selecting the most suitable varieties for the natural location, attentive management of the farming, harvesting and processing.
The coffee is shade grown, which protects the plants from direct sunlight, maintains soil health, and provides an important habitat for birds and insect life. The family’s mills are also eco-friendly. The water used in the wet processing of the cherries is drained into sedimentation tanks and the pulp is transformed to humus by worm culture which is in turn used a rich compost for next years crop.
THE COFFEE
IKAWA’s Finca Puerta Verde coffee is a mix of fully washed Bourbon and Caturra varietals. Look carefully at the beans before you roast them – they look very similar and when processed in the same way are very hard to differentiate.
Bourbon coffees can produce absolutely excellent flavours, often with inherent grapey notes. Even when well nurtured, they tend to have a lower yield than many other varietals, but that they lack in quantity, they make up for in quality and flavour. The cherries are relatively small and dense tend to mature quickly, turning from green through distinctive yellow for a phase before the beautiful red berries are ready to harvest.
Caturra coffees are closely related to Bourbon, but tend to grow on a lower more bushy tree, producing higher yields and requiring lots of fertiliser and nutrients. Grown at the high altitude of Finca Puerta Verde, the flavour quality is also fantastic.