Guatemala Margarita Carmen Rodriguez
Bold Profile | Medium-dark roast
Tasting Notes: Malt, Toasted Walnuts & Earthy
IT ALL STARTS AT THE COFFEE FARM
Margarita Rodriguez is a producer in the Quetzaltenango department of Guatemala, near the town of San Juan Ostuncalco. As is common in the region, Margarita has been involved in coffee cultivation for her entire life. Initially, it was her parents who, as workers on a farm, taught her the management of the crop, from planting, harvesting, processing, and drying.
It wasn't until she got married that she and her husband acquired their own farm, and coffee became their main source of income. The farm totals 5.7 hectares (14 acres), 3.5 (8.6 acres) of which are planted with coffee. As you can see in the photos, the land is full of lush forests. Although Doña Margarita initially had varieties such as Bourbon and Caturra, she recently decided to replace about 20% of them with resistant varieties due to fear of coffee rust. Harvesting is done manually and is supervised by Neivin, one of her sons, who now manages the farm.
Since 2020, Margarita has been working with Caravela Coffee Importers' PECA education program: in PECA, a team of agronomists educate farmers and their families on best practices to increase productivity and improve quality. Since then, she has made significant changes in the management and processing of the coffee, starting with selective harvesting, conducting fermentation processes in concrete tanks, followed by more careful drying that now takes between 7 and 10 days.
Margarita not only wants to continue improving the processes on the farm but also wishes for it to be a legacy for her children.
Margarita raking coffee as it dries
Coffee drying on patio
A farm in a forest
Margarita's son Neivin on drying patio
Margarita next to her coffee washing tanks
TRACEABILITY
COUNTRY
Guatemala
REGION
Quetzaltenango
IMPORTER
Caravela
PRODUCER
Margarita Carmen Rodriguez
MILL / WASHING STATION
On farm
PROCESSING
Washed
ALTITUDE
1400 - 1550 meters
DID YOU KNOW
Aside from Spanish, residents of San Juan Ostuncalco also speak the indigenous Mayan Mam language.
PRICE TRANSPARENCY
$4.14
Price paid by Driftaway
$2.87
Free on Board price
$2.27
Farm Gate price
$2.00
Fair Trade price per pound
$1.80
Coffee C-Market price per pound
$0.05
Driftaway's World Coffee Research contribution per pound
This coffee travelled 3,165 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.
Margarita Carmen Rodriguez's coffee was previously included in with several other lots to form Caravela's La Danza coffee, a 100% woman-grown lot, mostly coming from the Lake Atitlan area, a bit southeast of where Margarita grows her coffee.
We asked Caravela if there were any more woman-grown lots that we could try, and we were delighted to taste this coffee! It has all of the things we look for in a Bold profile: density to hold up to the higher heat and longer time in the roaster, a substantial body, and an enduring sweetness.
AVERAGE CUPPING SCORE
85.25
/100
85.25
SCAA Cupping Score
15 x 69 k
Bags purchased
1 year
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 June 17th to July 12th 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 James M. and Ian T. 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.
