Family Drama - Seasonal Blend

The Story Behind the Coffee

Guatemala Huehuetenango Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is a region in the remote area of Huehuetenango where, in our opinion, Guatemala’s finest coffees are grown. The coffee is grown at very high elevations here, up to 2000 meters above sea level. These high elevations paired with shade cover and rich clay like soil help to produce dense coffee beans with good complexity, acidity and sweetness. Growers here have small farms, 3 hectares on average, and cultivate the Bourbon variety, prized for it’s sweet and chocolaty profile. The coffee is de-pulped, fermented in tanks, then washed and dried on patios. 

Asociación de Apicultores y Caficultores de Union Cantinil (AAPICUC) is the group behind this coffee and they are engaged in many sustainable practices with the smallholder farmers who are part of the coop. Beekeeping is integrated into coffee production to boost yields through the pollination process. The “honey waters” which is the byproduct from the washing process is filtered to protect local waterways. 

Mexico Veracruz Ohuapan

Ohuapan is a small community located in the Tlaltetela district. Ohuapan is located in the highest reaches of Tlaltetela. The farms in this community have an average size of 10 hectares per producer. During the harvest season the producers here use family labor to meet all their needs. Typical shade trees used include native trees such as banana and ice cream bean trees. The varieties planted in the area are Bourbon, Garnica (a distinct Veracruz variety), and Marsellesa.

In the central processing plant, they use spring water to wash the cherry. The coffee is de-pulped and fermented for 48 hours in concrete tanks, followed by mechanical drying for 60 hours.

For many years, the Tlaltetela area was essentially known for producing undifferentiated-quality coffee in large volumes. Producers in the higher areas like Ohuapan weren’t motivated to continue doing the exhausting work of growing, processing, and selling the special varieties that they had, since in the end they would receive the same price as lower-quality coffees and their coffees would be blended.

After an exhaustive search carried out by our importer Red Fox with the support of local partners, they were able to find the producers in the area that had differentiated coffees and were doing work that necessitated premium prices. This access to a new, differentiated market was a radical shift for the producers in the area since they now had a stable and secure market to sell their products.