Roast Approach: Guatemala Huehuetenango Chq'Ul

Today's coffee that we are going to approach is a fresh crop (2025) Chq’Ul from the Gomez family in the Huehuetenango region of Guatemala.  The farm sits at an elevation that ranges from 1550-1900 meters above sea level.  This washed coffee is a blend of Bourbon, Typica, Pache and Catuai varietals.  

Arrival QC:

The coffee arrived in October, 2025.  The coffee is washed processed with a range of screen sizes between 16-18, reflecting the mix of coffee varietals grown on the farm.  The coffee has a normal moisture of 10.6% and a high density.  The sample roast was preformed on an Ikawa with the roast profile that can be found on our website.

The Roaster:

For these roasts, I'll be using a Proaster 1.5 kilo drum roaster hooked up to natural gas.  Batch size is 400g, approximately 35% of roaster capacity.  I've used a small batch size on this roaster to get closer to mimicking the gas power that you might find on a larger production roaster.  It must always be mentioned that each roaster is different.  The type of probe, placement of probe, and batch size will all influence the way in which bean probe temperatures are registered in a roaster.  With that said, don't read too much into the exact temperatures, but look more closely at the theory behind the approach, time spent in different development periods, and rate of rise to get a better idea of how to translate this profile over to your own machine. 

The Goal:

In this edition of Roast Approach, I will bring you three different roasts of this coffee.  Each roast providing a unique emphasis to the acidity, sweetness, body and balance of the coffee.  Hopefully this will provide you with the background you need to confidently approach this coffee in your own roasting adventures.

If you would like to learn more about my four phase approach to roast profiling, check out my “Roast Approach: Roast Strategy” blog.

Below is a comparison chart of the four roasts for you to follow along with. Each segment is measured in seconds with drying from charge through 305, Maillard from 305-350, caramelization from 350-first crack, and post crack development time measured from first crack through the end of the roast.  This coffee entered in to first crack usually around 385.  Due to first crack being prone to some inconsistencies, I have adjusted all measurements of post crack development time to go from 385 degrees through the end of the roast.

The Approach: Roast 1

In the first roast, my goal was to see how the coffee responded to heavy gas application through both Maillard and caramelization phases.  The charge temperature for this roast was 390 degrees, which will remain constant through all of the roasts.  

The coffee needs a lot of heat to continue to progress through the stages of roast.  For a roast that emphasizes the bright acidity of the coffee, I would recommend for a roaster to increase the charge temperature.  This coffee is very dense and can handle a high amount of heat without suffering from roast defects.  Additional roast experiments were conducted with this coffee where the charge temperature was increased 15 degrees, which amplified the juicy quality of the body and the clarity of the apple and lime acidity.

In roasting this coffee, there is a significant amount of heat energy that is needed through the caramelization phase to keep the coffee moving.  At around 397 degrees (around 10 degrees past first crack) the coffee will begin to take off.  With this change in heat energy, I needed to be aware of this change and make the gas application change quickly.  If you pull heat back too early, the coffee does not have enough heat energy and stalls out.  If you pull heat back too late, the coffee takes off rapidly and can be difficult to reign in at the end of the roast.

The Approach: Roast 2

The second roast uses a high gas application through the early drying and early Maillard, then reduces heat application around 350 degrees.  Due to how much heat application is needed to continue progressing through caramelization and early part of post crack development, this heat application is still relatively high in comparison to other coffees that I have roasted.  Developing sugars in this coffee without stalling it out is a bit tricky with this coffee.  The coffee is very sweet, but it leans towards a pronounced and intense acidity.  As more sugar development is brought to this coffee, the malic and citric acidities balance with developed fructose sugars creating flavors of red raspberry, tangerine and plum stone fruit.  The body of the coffee also becomes more buttery and soft, with a juiciness that comes forward as the coffee cools.

The Approach: Roast 3

The third roast features a steady medium-high heat application through almost the entirety of the roast, with a reduction right at the end to avoid the coffee taking off after 397 degrees.  Additionally, the coffee finishes 2 degrees higher.  While only extending the post crack development phase by 5 seconds, we do see a noticeable change in roast loss of 0.5% and a decrease in the Agtron reading (showing the coffee is getting darker) of 1.3 points.  In the cup, we see these changes develop flavors of dark chocolate and a candy sweetness.  

The Takeaway:

I found this coffee to be really fun to roast.  This coffee can take a lot of heat.  The acidity profile is complex and can be really transformative with high heat application.  Bringing out enough sweetness in the coffee to balance out the acidity can be a bit tricky.  I found the sweet spot to be when I was able to keep my rate of rise between 20-16 through the caramelization phase.  Hitting a rate of rise of around 16 at first crack is a good sign that you have enough heat energy to make it through development, without stalling out your roast.  A higher rate of rise will likely bring you to a finished product that has a more pronounced acidity.   

Bringing out the fruit character in the coffee by balancing out the sugar development and acidity is a challenge, but definitely a fun challenge!  Roast 2 was my personal favorite for brewing up on drip.  If you want to bring even more complexity to the acidity profile, look at using Roast 2 but increasing your charge temp by 10-15 degrees.  If you are looking to tone down the acidity, such as for use on espresso extraction, I'd recommend starting with Roast 3 and then reduce your charge temperature by 10-15 degrees to stretch out time spent in Maillard and caramelization.  

Happy roasting!