Coffee tasting notes can sound a little suspicious if no one has explained them properly.
Milk chocolate? Orange zest? Cracked black pepper? Dried cherry?
We get it. It can sound like someone went crazy with a thesaurus.
But tasting notes are not added flavors. We are not pouring in chocolate syrup, citrus peel, or peppercorns in the roaster. These are just the natural flavors and aromas we notice when a coffee is grown, processed, roasted, and brewed in a way that lets its character show up clearly.
Our current Guatemalan coffee is a great example: smooth and rounded, with notes of milk chocolate, dried cherry, orange zest, and a subtle cracked black pepper finish. It is approachable, but not boring. Balanced, but not flat. Basically, it has range.
First: What Are Coffee Tasting Notes?
Tasting notes are a way to describe what a coffee reminds us of.
Coffee professionals use tools like the Specialty Coffee Association’s Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel to help identify and describe flavors in a shared language. The wheel starts with broad categories, like fruity, sweet, floral, or spicy, and gets more specific as you move outward. So instead of just saying “this coffee tastes good,” we can say, “this has a chocolatey sweetness, a citrusy brightness, and a little spice on the finish.” The SCA describes the Flavor Wheel as a major collaborative coffee flavor research tool used to help professionals build shared tasting vocabulary.
That does not mean everyone will taste the exact same thing. Your palate, brew method, water, grind size, and even what you had for breakfast can shift what you notice. Coffee is delicious. It is also dramatic.
Why Milk Chocolate?
Milk chocolate notes usually point to sweetness, roundness, and roast development.
In this Guatemalan coffee, the milk chocolate note gives the cup its comforting base. It is the part that makes the coffee feel smooth and familiar. Not overly dark, not bitter, not aggressively "roasty". Just that soft cocoa sweetness that makes a cup feel balanced.
This is one reason Guatemalan coffees are so easy to love. They often sit beautifully between sweetness, structure, and brightness, enough complexity for the coffee nerds, enough comfort for someone who just wants a good cup before answering emails.
Why Orange Zest?
Orange zest is where the brightness comes in.
When we say a coffee has citrus notes, we are usually talking about acidity, but not the harsh, sour kind. Good acidity in coffee can feel lively, clean, and refreshing. Think more “fresh orange peel” than “oops, lemon juice.”
This Guatemalan cup has a bright lift that keeps the chocolate notes from feeling heavy. The result is a cup that feels smooth but still awake. A little sparkle, without turning into a whole personality crisis.
Why Dried Cherry?
Dried cherry shows up as a deeper fruit note.
It is not juicy like fresh berries, and it is not tart like cranberry. It is more subtle: a little sweet, a little dark, a little round. In the cup, dried cherry adds depth and makes the coffee feel more layered.
This is part of what makes the coffee so satisfying as a medium roast. You get sweetness, fruit, and structure without losing the clean finish.
And the Pepper?
This is the fun part.
The cracked black pepper note is not spicy like hot sauce. It is not going to fight you. It shows up more as a gentle savory edge, usually near the finish, giving the coffee a little shape and intrigue.
That peppery note is what keeps the cup from being simply “chocolate and citrus.” It adds complexity. A little backbone. A little “I read the room and then made it more interesting.”
What Elevation Has To Do With It
This coffee was grown at high elevation, the supplier information we have lists the altitude between 1,500 and 1,800 meters above sea level.
That matters.
At higher elevations, coffee cherries generally mature more slowly. Slower development can lead to denser beans and more concentrated flavor potential. In Guatemala, the SHB designation, short for Strictly Hard Bean, is used for coffees grown at higher elevations, commonly above 1,350 meters. EP, or European Preparation, refers to additional sorting standards for green coffee.
In normal-person terms: high elevation can help create coffees with more structure, more sweetness, and more clarity. The bean had to work for it. Relatable.
DLG Coffee
A Note on Region
Our Guatemalan, comes from Antigua, one of the country’s most celebrated coffee-growing regions. Antigua sits in a valley surrounded by three volcanoes: Agua, Fuego, and Acatenango, which is quite a dramatic setting for something you drink before, during, and after answering emails. (Although, sometimes those emails can be quite dramatic)
That volcanic landscape matters. Antigua’s mineral-rich soil, cool nights, low humidity, and high elevation all help shape coffees that are known for their balance, sweetness, structure, and layered complexity. The region is especially loved for cups that feel clean and polished, with gentle brightness and a smooth finish.
In this coffee, that shows up as milk chocolate sweetness, dried cherry depth, orange zest brightness, and a soft cracked pepper finish. It’s smooth, lively, and just spicy enough to keep things interesting, basically, a very well-traveled cup with excellent manners.
How We’d Brew It
Guatemalan works beautifully as:
Drip
Balanced, smooth, and easy to drink. The best everyday version.
Pour Over
More clarity. This is where the orange zest and dried cherry can show up more clearly.
French Press
More body. Expect the chocolate notes to feel fuller and the peppery finish to come through a little more softly.
No wrong answers here. Just different routes to the same good decision.
Who This Coffee Is For
Try this one if you like:
-
Medium roasts with structure
-
Chocolatey coffees that are not too dark
-
A little citrus brightness
-
Smooth finishes
-
Coffees that are interesting without requiring a tasting notebook and emotional support kettle
It is a great bag for someone who wants to explore single origin coffee without feeling like they accidentally enrolled in a seminar.
Come Taste It With Us
We have been roasting coffee in Atlanta for more than 30 years, and part of what we love most is helping people find coffees they actually enjoy, not just coffees that sound impressive on a label.
So come try our Guatemalan coffee in the café, grab a bag for home, or ask your barista which brew method they’d recommend. We’ll happily talk tasting notes with you. Or we’ll just pour you a cup and let the coffee do the talking. Honestly, it has plenty to say.
Stop by Virginia-Highland, Candler Park, or Midtown to try this month’s featured Guatemalan coffee, or grab a bag online and brew it at home. Like it enough to make it a habit? Ask us about coffee subscriptions, because future-you deserves better than emergency grocery store beans.