el tesoro - guatemala - washed

Ayae Maki Fredheim is originally from Japan. She moved to Norway with her husband in 2013. That is when she discovered her love for coffee and her passion for roasting started blossoming. Aya started as a barista at a café in Oslo in 2014, began roasting in 2018, and became the head roaster in 2019. She remained in that role until 2023 when her son was born. Motherhood has a certain way about empowering women to follow their dreams. Aya started her own roastery, and after months of planning, she officially launched Hibi Kaffe in November 2024.

Hibi means daily in Japanese—better coffee for your everyday moments. Basically. Aya says: "Starting this journey has been amazing, and I’m so excited to share it with others!" Equally amazing is the way that our paths crossed and that was a pure coincidence triggered by our common interest in sourdough baking, and Aya and Leif's hevet.no collection of proofing baskets.

This cup has a sweetness like honey and gentle white floral notes. It's a washed Geisha from La Joya, in Guatemala's Chimaltenango region, into the spotlight. It's delicate and complex, and works great as a filter coffee.

El Tesoro is part of a special project started in 2020 to explore new, harder-to-reach growing regions in Guatemala and build direct relationships with small producers there. A mobile lab, the "Laboratorio Móvil," let their QA team travel out to these remote farms to cup coffee on-site and get to know the people and places behind it — coffees that had simply gone unnoticed due to limited access and market connections, not any lack of quality. This lot was grown by Elida Reyes Orrego in San Martín Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango, where coffee is farmed alongside staple crops like corn and beans on small plots, often under the shade of native oak trees. The region's cool, temperate climate gives its coffees a naturally vibrant, fruity character. Caravela's PECA agronomy program worked closely with producers here to help them shift from commercial-grade coffee toward specialty quality, with a number of lots — this one included — now reaching AAA grade.

harvest: runs from December to April. Cherries are hand-picked at peak ripeness and pulped the same day, then fermented for 28 to 30 hours — sometimes with a 12-hour rest in cherry before pulping. After washing, the coffee is dried on concrete or nylon patios, under sun or shade depending on the farm's setup.

origin: San Martín Jilotepeque - Chimaltenango

processing: washed

varietal: geisha

altitude: 1672 masl