Guatemala Finca Medina Black Honey Special Edition

Bellwood spotlights a black honey lot from Finca Medina and sister estate Anexo Portal in Guatemala’s Antigua Valley, a region framed by the Acatenango, Fuego, and Agua volcanoes. Altitude, fertile volcanic soils, and cool nights shape slow, even ripening here. Finca Medina has produced specialty coffee since 1842, and today its farms combine centuries of tradition with careful, modern processing to preserve that clarity.

Processing drives the character. For this black honey, ripe cherries are floated, depulped, and dried slowly on raised beds for roughly 30 days, with daily bed covering to moderate airflow and temperature. Leaving a heavy layer of mucilage on the parchment concentrates sugars and builds a syrupy feel while keeping the cup’s structure intact. Think of it as a bridge between the transparency of washed and the fruit depth of naturals.

The roaster describes the taste as sweet cherry, bright lemon, guava, brown sugar, and cinnamon, with tangerine and grapefruit. In the cup, it tastes like red-fruit sweetness with citrus brightness and a gentle spice warmth. It might remind you of cherry compote, lemon and tangerine, a touch of guava, and a brown-sugar finish with a light cinnamon accent. Expect a dynamic balance of sweetness and acidity, a silky texture, and a long, layered finish. Origin Antigua, Guatemala. Producer Finca Medina and Anexo Portal. Process black honey.