Guatemala Sandy Fabiola de Leon
Balanced Profile | Light-medium roast
Tasting Notes: Floral, Apricot, Dulce De Leche
IT ALL STARTS AT THE COFFEE FARM
This coffee was grown, harvested and processed by Sandy de Leon in the mountainous region of Sierra de las Minas. Sandy oversees all cultivation, processing and decision-making for the farm, driving advancements in farm practices within her community.
Sandy nurtures her coffee in the lush southern slopes of Sierra de Las Minas, a region celebrated for its natural beauty and rich biodiversity. After harvesting her coffee cherries at at peak ripeness and floating the batches to remove lower-density cherries, she carries out a 12-hour in-cherry fermentation.
Using water to pulp the coffee cherries in a motor-powered pulper at her own micro-mill, Sandy performs dry fermentation (without water) in concrete piles for 18 to 24 hours, as this has proven to produce cleaner and better-tasting coffees.
Sunset over Chiquimula
Coffee trees in the forest
TRACEABILITY
PRODUCER
Sandy Fabiola de Leon
MILL / WASHING STATION
On farm
PROCESSING
Washed
ALTITUDE
1550 meters
DID YOU KNOW
The area where this coffee was grown is rich with volcanic soil. Volcanic soils, predominantly composed of tephra, result from the expulsion of volcanic particles (ash) and rocky fragments from a volcano during eruptions, which subsequently descend to the ground. Gradually, the tephra undergoes decomposition, giving rise to what we refer to as volcanic soil.
PRICE TRANSPARENCY
$4.42
Price paid by Driftaway
$3.95
Free on Board price
$2.14
Farm Gate price
$2.14
Fair Trade price per pound - compare to FOB
$1.94
Coffee C-Market price per pound
$0.05
Driftaway's World Coffee Research contribution per pound
This coffee travelled 3,334 miles to the Driftaway Coffee roastery in Queens.
Love the coffee? You can share your compliments & tasting observations with the farmers.
WHY DID WE SELECT THIS COFFEE?
It's been important for us at Driftaway to prioritize women farmers as we search the world for delicious coffees. Women make up 70% of the workforce in coffee, yet systematically have lower access to resources like land, credit and just plain information.
We roasted coffee from Sandy de Leon last year, but her coffee was blended in with another farmer's and placed in the Classic profile as a chocolatey, toasty medium roast. This year, however, we were able to receive just Sandy's coffee, and were delighted to perceive a lovely florality, deep sweetness structured acidity of apricot, making it a perfect choice for this Balanced profile.
AVERAGE CUPPING SCORE
86.5
/100
86.5
SCAA Cupping Score
15 x 60 kg
Bags purchased
2 years
Length of producer relationship
100% (in 2023)
Transparent coffees purchased
HOW DID WE ROAST THIS COFFEE?
This coffee is being roasted by Ian T. from July 15th to August 9th in Brooklyn. We use the Loring Kestrel roaster for this profile. We have strict guidelines for each of the coffee profiles, and this roast has to pass the development time ratio test as measured in real-time by the roasting software, Cropster. Once it does, it is approved for production.
QUALITY CONTROL
We perform Quality Control via a process of coffee tasting called cupping on all of our production roasts once a week at our roastery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Each cupping is conducted by Ian T., Anu M., Suyog M., and James M. using standard equipment, and is logged by our Q-certified cupper Ian T. All coffees are evaluated on a scoring scale of 0 to 3.
- 3.0 = exceptional roast - exceeds expectations
- 2.5 = on par with profile - matches expectations
- 2.0 = good roast, but 1 or 2 elements could be improved - needs improvement
- 1.5 or lower = failed - do not ship
PRODUCTION AND SHIPPING
Less than 24 hours after roasting, we bag your coffee in our production facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Our production team is led by Anthony and Torie, and supported by a rotating cast of local artists, musicians and independent professionals.
AT YOUR HOME
Brew this coffee with your favorite home brewer and enjoy the taste of incredible coffee! Here are a few tips on how to make the best coffee on each brewer.
View other posts about how to make better coffee at home on our blog Coffeecademy.
