Meta Coffee Roasting Co., owned and operated by Zach Tarhini, is one of our newer local Kansas City roasters. You can learn more about Meta Coffee Roasting Co. in some of these articles. Zach dropped a sample of his latest coffee off with me a few weeks ago when we met and hung out at Broadway Cafe in Kansas City. He’s a super nice guy and it was a lot of fun to get to meet him! The coffee I’m reviewing today is Meta’s Organic Guatemala ADISQUE, which you can buy directly from Zach for $13/12oz (or $16.50/16oz or $9/8oz bag).
This coffee comes from the Asociacion de Desarrollo Integral Sostenible de Quezaltepeque cooperative, which we’ll just refer to as ADISQUE! Quezaltepeque is in the eastern part of Guatemala and the co-op has about 356 members from mostly indigenous members who have small farms (three acres, on average). ADISQUE provides education and assistance for these farmers to grow sustainably and using organic methods.[ref]http://www.royalcoffee.com/Profiles/GUATEMALA%20ORGANIC%20ADISQUE%20SHB%20EP%20GRAINPRO[/ref] These coffees are Arabica species that grow above 1400masl and are fully washed.
I prepared this coffee a few times as both Gino pourover and as my standard inverted AeroPress. I preferred it from the AeroPress. Guatemalan coffees always throw me for a bit of a loop because they have a bit of a bite to them that I have trouble describing and that always seems to detract from the coffee for me. Let’s talk about what I liked about this coffee first, though. This ADISQUE from Meta was well-roasted and had a gentle acidity to it that I would compare to tangerine. It was citric, but seemed sweet and light, so definitely not lime or lemon and it wasn’t as bold as orange. I got hints of sweet orange and even cherry in this cup, as well as some basic sugary undertones. There is good balance to this simple coffee and it was a pretty easy drinker. In the Gino pourovers I got a bit of pleasant tartness that reminded me of lactic acid coffees I’ve had from La Palma y El Tucan in Colombia. Hard to describe, but an almost dairy-like, kind of creamy mouthfeel coupled with a bit of tartness. I love that!
Like every other Guatemalan coffee I’ve had, though (except for the Equator Pandora del Carmen I reviewed recently) there is something in the beans that detracts from my enjoyment. It’s sort of earthy, a bit grassy and there is a drying feeling on my palate. This was more apparent in the Gino than in the AeroPress, which is why I preferred that method for this coffee. It must be something inherent to this growing region because I get it from every coffee I drink from Guatemala. It just gives a bit of bite to the cup and it’s not a mouthfeel/effect that I like, but it also doesn’t bother me enough to not drink this coffee and enjoy it. I would just like it more if it wasn’t there!
Like Meta’s Peruvian I reviewed a while back, this is a pretty straight shooter, not terribly complex. It’s a good morning cup and it has nice acidity and sweetness in the cup. I enjoyed it despite the “Guatemalan bite” being present and it’s a second solid offering from Zach’s new roasting endeavor!