Guatemala SMBC Huehuetenago ASOBAGRI SHB EP Organic Fair Trade

This cooperative is simply one of the most sophisticated and well organized in the world. With more than 1,400 members, spread across 80 communities, who cultivate and harvest their own coffee on small farms with their own micro-mills,Asociación Barillense de Agricultores (ASOBAGRI) has the enormous task of providing training and technical support that is appropriately tailored to the needs of the members. Strategies like using coffee pulp to make organic fertilizers reduces the transportation costs associated with purchasing fertilizer from afar, and at the same time, creates an abundant source of organic plant nutrition that ensures better yields and quality. Drying practices are also exquisitely uniform among members who use mobile raised beds that can be stacked and covered at night to protect the coffee and then unstacked and spread out during the day to dry the coffee in the sun. ASOBAGRI also has centralized warehouses to store dried parchment and a cupping lab where producers get immediate feedback.

Central American coffees may use the term EP (European Prep) to indicate screen size (15-18), in addition to SHB (Strictly Hard Bean), SHG (Strictly High Grown), or HG (High Grown) to refer to the highest grade of coffee based solely on elevation.

The coffee has a tangy acidity with a smooth, mellow body. Notes of brown sugar, chocolate, and stone fruit stand out in this almost sweet cup. Also available in Dark Roast.