Cojones Guatemalan by Good Coffee Cartel Review

The Good Coffee Cartel has been on my radar for months. Based in Glasgow, the Cartel has a reputation for the consideration they give to the environment, and for great coffees. According to their website, the Cartel was the first coffee shop to offer a reusable cup exchange program where customers could receive their coffee in a clean reusable cup in exchange for a deposit.

In November, the Cartel started offering a new coffee, Cojones. All of the proceeds for this coffee were to go to charity thanks to a generous sponsorship from their green bean partner. I was on the lookout for a new coffee in the middle of November and I decided I'd give this coffee a go. I was not so much taken by the "limited edition" nature of the coffee as I was with the reputation of the roaster, who was recommended to me by a friend.

The farm from which Cojones was sourced, Finca La Bolsa in Huehuetenago, Guatemala, placed second in the 2002 Cup of Excellence Competition. The farm invests extensively in its workers. Temporary and full-time staff can send their kids to a school in the area while they work. This is a great idea because often parents take their children to work so they can look after them, which means that the kids often miss out on an education.

Cojones, like all coffees from The Good Coffee Cartel, came in a silver, reusable can. I do plan on keeping the can because it has stored my coffee well and it may come in handy in the future. You can get refills from the Cartel from their website that are delivered in recyclable material, which shows their dedication to conscious environmental practices.

The dry grounds of this coffee smelled of raisin and dark chocolate, foreshadowing what I could expect later. As the coffee brewed, I was blessed with strong cherry aromas.

The final cup had a strong cherry aroma. Cherry was by far the clearest aroma I could detect although there was a hint of raspberry and dark chocolate. I was excited to drink this coffee because cherry is my favourite flavour note in a coffee. I tried a coffee from the Columbian Cundinimarca region earlier this year which had cherry notes and it was delicious.

On my first sip, I tasted cherry. This flavour was prominent throughout the cup. Dark chocolate flavours were present, especially as the cup cooled down. Toward the end of the cup, the cherry flavours made a comeback. There were raspberry and raisin notes throughout the cup although these were not as clear.

This coffee was sweet. I wrote down in my notes that Cojones is almost like a desert drink, an excellent treat in the form of coffee. The sweetness of the coffee was balanced well with acidic notes. This coffee is quite acidic but I have had many more acidic coffees, such as the Kenyan peaberry I finished prior to starting Cojones.

With a medium body, this coffee is good from the first sip to the last (no pun intended). I enjoyed this coffee in both my morning and afternoon cups and I've found it works at any time of the day. I like a sweet treat with coffee but I feel like this coffee is sweet enough in itself. It is really distinctive.

My last sip featured all of the flavours I've come to notice in this coffee: raspberry, cherry, and dark chocolate. Cherry and dark chocolate are definitely the stars. The cherry notes linger in the finish of this coffee, which is long and heavy. Minutes after tasting the coffee I still taste cherry in my mouth.

This coffee is now no longer available as it was limited edition. On the Good Coffee Cartel's website, the company said that they brew the coffee as an espresso. The tin says the coffee is for espresso. This is a good reminder that espresso coffees are not exclusively for use with an espresso machine. I brewed Cojones with my Aeropress and I was able to extract many delicious, fruity notes, as well as a nice dark chocolate body.

About This Coffee

Process: Natural

Price: £8.00 (200g)

Varietal: Caturra and Bourbon

Tastes: Cherry, dark chocolate, raspberry, raisin