Hugo Ruiz

Hugo Ruiz’s small farm overlooks the highlands of western Guatemala near the town of Concepción Huista. Hugo is a part of the CODECH cooperative, an organization we’ve worked with closely since 2010. Each season, the cooperative tastes each farmer's delivery, setting aside the highest-scoring lots to be sold at a premium, incentivizing and rewarding quality. Hugo’s coffee is regularly one of the top-scoring coffees each season. After hundreds of cups tasted, the coop identified this coffee as one of the best of the harvest, and our sourcing team couldn’t agree more. We enjoy its confectionery quality, with cocoa and nougat flavors complementing a pear-like sweetness. 

Pronunciation: hOO-go roo-EES

Produced by Hugo Ruiz in the Concepción Huista region of Guatemala, this selection highlights the distinct character of high-quality lots from this specific area. As a roaster, Counter Culture Coffee emphasizes the importance of origin-specific profiles, and this coffee showcases a balanced cup defined by cocoa, nougat, and a distinct pear-like sweetness.

When evaluating such profiles, it is helpful to reference the flavor wheel to better categorize the interplay between nutty, chocolatey base notes and delicate fruit-toned sugars. While every harvest varies, coffees from this region are often noted for their structural integrity and clean finish. By focusing on the work of producers like Hugo Ruiz, roasters can highlight the nuanced differences that terroir and processing methods bring to the final cup, offering a clear expression of the landscape from which these beans originate.