Guatemala Luis Pedro Zelaya
I ran my standard setup with this bag from Cultivar. Chemex, 37 grams of beans to 600ml filtered water, and I drink it black. A little about the bag, Guatemala Luis Pedro Zelaya from Cultivar Coffee in East Dallas is a washed Antigua from Luis Pedro Zelaya Zamora at Bella Vista. Their bag says brown sugar, almond, and butterscotch for tasting notes.
The honorary first smell of the bag was nuttier than I expected, with some sweetness sitting behind it. That sweetness is what showed up first for me once it was brewed though. The first sip while it's still hot is the most sweet-forward / fruity this coffee gets and I didn’t find it overwhelming. I love when that first sip is one of my favorites. What was a pleasant surprise is that when my attention drifted (I get distracted easily), and I then found my way back to the cup it still tasted great as it began to cool. Coffee is always going to change flavor throughout the cooling process and finding one that matches your palate as it does is always a win. As it settled and cooled the almond balanced the cup out and the butterscotch got more present. Brown sugar added some balance as it cooled too. There was a lot going on across the drinking process, which I mean as a compliment.
During the first tasting I caught myself just going back for another sip and not really processing that I was supposed to be reviewing it. I was just enjoying the cup. Great for a morning coffee moment, less helpful when you are trying to focus on a review. The subtlety also grew on me over different days of testing, so I would sit with the bag for a few cups before you decide what you think of it. It offers a medium body, I can feel the coffee on the palate but it doesn't feel heavy. I know it's there, instead of that tea-like thing some washed cups disappear into. Callout for Cultivar here: I appreciated how this cup evolved as the temperature changed. I was flip flopping a bit between a Worth a Try and a Take My Money rating for this bag but it really grew on me over time. This landed as a Take My Money, it wasn’t so much that it blew me away with exceptional flavor (don’t get me wrong it’s good), but more that it offered incredible consistency in flavor and taste throughout the cup that had me enjoying my morning coffee ritual.
A little about Cultivar. They have been roasting in East Dallas since 2009. Jonathan Meadows and Nathan Shelton started it, and they still go on the buying trips and pick the lots themselves, instead of just ordering whatever a catalog already roasted. The cafe sits inside Goodfriend Package, a beer and sandwich spot, and a pretty perfect place for a roaster cafe if you ask me. Cultivar also has a few subscriptions if you don't want to think about reordering. Filter, Limited Release, and Espresso, and you can swap or skip them depending on your mood and tastes.