{"id":1535,"date":"2015-10-15T08:50:19","date_gmt":"2015-10-15T13:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1535"},"modified":"2015-10-16T17:33:01","modified_gmt":"2015-10-16T22:33:01","slug":"review-sterling-coffee-roasters-guatemala-los-carillos-portland-oregon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1535","title":{"rendered":"Review: Sterling Coffee Roasters Guatemala Los Carillos (Portland, Oregon)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had expected that I would have a streak of five reviews concentrating on Portland-area coffee roasters, but that expanded to seven once I decided to get two additional bags of Sterling Coffee Roasters’ beans. This is the last in the series; the next bag will likely be something local as I plan to attend the sold-out Dallas Coffee Day<\/a>\u00a0this Sunday!<\/p>\n

Whole beans: These beans gave off a milk chocolate, vanilla bean, and chocolate milkshake aroma. Very inviting.<\/p>\n

V60: Nope. This cup was astringent and dry – not pleasant, especially considering the sweet aroma of the beans. Plain water tasted super sweet after drinking this.<\/p>\n

AeroPress: There was a bit of marshmallow and some lemon flavor in this concentrate. Adding water made me think of s’mores, and made it a very smooth cup.<\/p>\n

Chemex: Clean, light, marshmallow scent and flavor on the finish.<\/p>\n

French press: Sweet and full-bodied! This cup was most like a chocolate milkshake.<\/p>\n

Espresso: Sterling’s website stated that they pull this as a single-origin espresso in their shops, and that it is best consumed as a straight espresso because the flavor has a tendency to get lost in milk. I only pulled a few shots before I ran out of beans, but I managed to hit their suggested parameters, and the shot was decently tasty but not as good as their\u00a0Blendo Stupendo<\/a>\u00a0in my opinion. As a straight shot, the Guatemala Los Carillos has a somewhat generic chocolate flavor\u00a0with a note of lemon. Not my favorite flavor combination. Even with a small amount of milk (about\u00a04\u00a0oz of milk added to my 2 oz of espresso), the coffee flavor really was muted.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/strong>: Based on my previous experience with Guatemalan beans, I had expected that I would enjoy this brewed in a Chemex the most, but while it was delicious in a Chemex, I actually think I preferred this particular bag of beans in the French press, as it brought out the chocolate\/vanilla flavor the most. I had limited experience with this as an espresso but from what I did experience, I think this is best served as a coffee.\u00a0I will say that Sterling is 3 for 3 in impressing me with their beans!<\/p>\n

From the roaster:\u00a0Look for a delicate vanilla bean fragrance when ground, and a cup that smacks of dried Mediterranean fruit, marzipan, and that sublime cocoa flavor so characteristic of Guatemala coffee.<\/span>\u00a0Light\u00a0roasted for drip and press.<\/p>\n

Sterling Coffee Roasters Guatemala Los Carillos<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had expected that I would have a streak of five reviews concentrating on Portland-area coffee roasters, but that expanded to seven once I decided to get two additional bags of Sterling Coffee Roasters’ beans. This is the last in the series; the next bag will likely be something local as I plan to attend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"A great example of the lovely chocolate flavor that a good Guatemalan coffee can offer!","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[6,159,3,154],"tags":[192,33,22,193,61,23,194],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/tn_IMG_1647.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1323,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1323","url_meta":{"origin":1535,"position":0},"title":"Review: Lexington Coffee Roasters Guatemala Waykan (Lexington, Virginia)","date":"September 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks again to my friend Sarah for these beans! :) I consider my tasting skills to be decent, but I can't hold a candle to the fine folks at Coffee Review. I purposely did not pay attention to the tasting notes on this coffee until after I was finished, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Central America"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/tn_lex_guatemala.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2834,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2834","url_meta":{"origin":1535,"position":1},"title":"Review: Two Guns Beach Blend (Manhattan Beach, California)","date":"December 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I picked up this bag from the Two Guns Espresso location in Manhattan Beach at the same time that I got a bag of the Two Guns Espresso Blend. Both of these bags are roasted by Dillanos Coffee Roasters in Washington. I don't think it's possible to buy Two Guns-branded\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/tn_IMG-1566-e1513010062798.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6670,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6670","url_meta":{"origin":1535,"position":2},"title":"Review: Cherry Coffee Co. Hang Around Espresso Blend (Fort Worth, Texas)","date":"April 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I attended the inaugural Dallas Coffee Festival earlier this month and had a good time exploring the booths of many local roasters, about half of which I'd not yet heard of. Novel Coffee Roasters is a Dallas-area roaster I've enjoyed many times, and I was intrigued to see they were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0179-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1516,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1516","url_meta":{"origin":1535,"position":3},"title":"Review: Sterling Coffee Roasters Blendo Stupendo Espresso Blend (Portland, Oregon)","date":"October 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"If you read my Sterling Coffee Roasters Kenya Gachatha AA review, you'll recall that I was a babbling neurotic mess at the coffee shop and the roaster himself took pity on me and gave me a bag for free, with the suggestion that if I liked what I tasted, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/tn_IMG_1655.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2474,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2474","url_meta":{"origin":1535,"position":4},"title":"Review: Ritual Coffee Roasters Day Drinker Seasonal Espresso (San Francisco, California)","date":"January 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I had my first experience with Ritual Coffee Roasters while visiting Cognoscenti Coffee in the Los Angeles area, and I was really impressed with the quality of the beans and the flavor that I received in that cup (chocolate, plum, spice). However, I have yet to order online directly from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/tn_IMG_5306.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1632,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1632","url_meta":{"origin":1535,"position":5},"title":"Review: Case Coffee Roasters Guatemala Bella Carmona Antigua (Ashland, Oregon)","date":"October 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"During my recent trip to Portland, I was sorely tempted to pick up a bag of coffee from Case Coffee Roasters when I spotted it at the Barista location I visited, but I had to exercise some restraint (if you can call 6 bags of coffee in 24 hours restraint).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/tn_IMG_1791.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5QIia-oL","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1535"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1567,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions\/1567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}