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The Coffee Atlas
Guatemala San Marcos
Guatemala San Marcos, the warmest and wettest of the country's coffee regions: floral, nut-toned and juicy, with sourced altitude and real cupping scores.
Flavor profile
avg. of 2 published reviewsScale: 1-10, Coffee Review / SCA-classic-form convention. Averaged from 2 independently published, dated Coffee Review scores of washed San Marcos lots: JBC Coffee Roasters' San Antonio (March 2021, overall 93) and David's Nose's Nueva Granda Washed Laurina (October 2023, overall 94). Not a category-wide statistical sample: two roasters, two farms, and one of the two lots is the rare Laurina variety, so a typical San Marcos bag can score differently.
What it tastes like
San Marcos is the odd one out among Guatemala’s eight coffee regions: instead of a cool, dry highland basin, it is the warmest and wettest. Anacafe’s regional profile lists 4,300 to 6,000 feet, 160 to 200 inches of rain a year, and seasonal rains that arrive early enough to trigger early flowering. The same profile sums up the cup as delicate floral notes in aroma and taste, pronounced acidity, and good body.
The two Coffee Review lots behind the scores here fit that description, with a nutty streak the region summary does not mention. JBC Coffee Roasters’ San Antonio (93) from San Cristobal Cucho, a washed blend of Typica, Bourbon, and Caturra, reads as pistachio butter and caramel with pear, lemon verbena, and cedar. David’s Nose’s Nueva Granda (94) is hazelnut, dark chocolate, black cherry, and lime zest over ginger blossom, though it is 100% Laurina, a rare variety, so treat it as a ceiling rather than a typical bag.
Weather shapes the processing too. Perfect Daily Grind notes that with the most rain of any Guatemalan region, producers often start drying coffee in the sun and finish it in a mechanical dryer. That is a reason to ask any roaster how a San Marcos lot was dried before expecting the clean, floral cup the reviews describe.
How to brew it
Method fit for this origin · editorial guidance from roaster convention
Filtered clarity suits the floral aroma and juicy, pronounced acidity that define the region.
The nut and chocolate tones and good body pull a sweet shot, though the bright acidity needs careful dialling in.
Full immersion leans into the body and nut tones but softens the floral and citrus top notes.
⚠ Fit tiers are editorial guidance drawn from roaster convention; no industry standard scores brew fit, so we show tiers, never invented numbers. Reflects brew guidance commonly published by specialty roasters for washed, high-grown Guatemalan lots, not an SCA-defined standard.
Altitude & region
Growing elevation, meters above sea level · this entry vs comparison bands
Guatemala San Marcos's range is sourced directly from Anacafe's Guatemalan Coffees regional profile (see Sources & data). Antigua, Huehuetenango, and Brazil Cerrado are shown for scale using the same typical origin altitude figures already published elsewhere in this Atlas, not lot-specific measurements.
Caffeine content
Caffeine by dry weight · each gold dot = 0.1%
Caffeine content tracks species, not origin, altitude, or processing: Robusta beans contain almost twice as much caffeine as Arabica (see Sources & data). This entry is 100% Arabica; no credible per-origin caffeine figure exists at a category level, so the comparison above is by species only, not a measurement of this specific lot.
Where to buy it
Transparency: some links on this site are affiliate links; if you buy through them we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Roasters are picked for genuine, current sourcing of this coffee, never for who pays us.
Certified organic Guatemalan San Marcos from the slopes of the Tajumulco volcano; round and approachable per the roaster's own listing.
View lot→Has sold Sipacapa, a San Marcos lot from the ACAS producer association; lots rotate, so browse the current coffee collection.
View lot→Miami roaster offering Pura Fruta from Finca El Platanillo in San Marcos; a natural-processed blend, so fruitier than the washed profile above.
View lot→Wide selection in one place; check roast dates, 100% San Marcos labeling, and seller reviews before buying.
View lot→Sources & data
- Guatemalan Coffees (Anacafe): San Marcos region profileAltitude (4,300-6,000 ft), warmest of the eight regions, highest rainfall, early flowering, and flavor profile (delicate floral notes, pronounced acidity, good body)
- Perfect Daily Grind: Barista guide, 8 coffee regions of GuatemalaSan Marcos described as the hottest region and the wettest, with about 5 m of rain a year; rain during harvest pushes producers to start drying in the sun and finish in mechanical dryers
- Coffee Review: San Antonio Guatemala, JBC Coffee RoastersCupping scores (1 of 2 averaged); San Cristobal Cucho, San Marcos; Typica, Bourbon, Caturra; washed
- Coffee Review: Guatemala Nueva Granda Washed Laurina, David's NoseCupping scores (2 of 2 averaged); San Marcos; Laurina; washed
- Coffee Review: scoring methodology1-10 attribute scale definition
- Crozier et al.: Espresso coffees, caffeine and chlorogenic acid intake (Food & Function, 2012)Peer-reviewed (Univ. of Glasgow): states robusta coffee beans contain almost twice as much caffeine as arabica, by species