Guatemala Casi Cielo

     Almost Heaven - Coffee from the Antigua region represents the best of the best!  This coffee was created in collaboration and once upon a time served at Seattle's legendary Canlis restaurant to pair with their decadent pastries and also used as espresso.  Rumor has it that at that time Starbucks had a decaf version of  Casi Cielo for Canlis Restaurant as well.

     This coffee really highlights the aspect of blending/roasting to achieve a tapestry for your palate and showcase the signature style of Guatemala.  Antigua's coffees are grown above 5,000 feet and the coffee farms are in close proximity to three of Guatemala's 37 volcanoes: Agua, Fuego, & Acatenango.  There are four farms that make up this blend and all four were chosen because each farm has a long history of high-quality coffee.  Each coffee is a Starbucks exclusive and over the years, Starbucks has supported at least one social project at each farm.
The four farms are San Miguel, Entre Volcanes (Special Reserve Estate 2001, Special Reserve 2002), Santa Clara (Special Reserve Blend 2002,2003), and Bella Vista.
     We tried this coffee in a french press and noticed the subtle floral aroma as we bloomed our grounds then prepared our press.  It is described as elegant in flavor and that's exactly how the beans flourished.  Casi Cielo was balanced, very smooth, and medium viscosity.  This coffee definitely had character and wanted to flaunt an outstanding flavor profile on the finish.  There is a tangy acidity to it but it does not over take the experience.  We tried this first with homemade Lemon Bars made by one of our partners coincidentally that day. The lemony acidity was alive, but it was sweet and showed off a different layer of flavor in this complex roast.  Now, before we tried this with chocolate we made a new batch with our chemex brewer but this time we added La Espanola Choffy to the grounds

before steeping on 7 grind.  La Espanola is coarsely ground cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic.
All we had to say was wow.  The cocoa tones and the texture of casi cielo was unreal.  The chocolate taste was astringent and decadent, paired with rocky road cake pop and we had a brownie in our cup. Cheers!