About This Coffee
This lot comes from the Rabinal Coop in Chichupak. The community is only 100 kilometers from the region's capital but it is not easy to reach, as it sits at the top of one of the highest peaks in the department of Baja Verapaz. You must pass through several villages, traveling on dirt roads, but once there, you are immersed in a different and magical world.
Chichupak members are very close to each other - most of them know each other for their entire lives. Faustín Chen is the leader, and together with Mario Sic, president of the association, works very hard to increase the quality of the production and as a consequence achieve better incomes. The community lives from their agriculture products; there are many small subsistence farms in the region. Coffee is one of their most important cash crops and their connection with the outside world.
The coffee production in the community is very traditional, but conducted with great care. Once the coffee is picked they take their coffee cherry to the coop's mill where every member has access to depulpers, fermentation tanks, wash channels, African beds, driers, and patios.
History of Coffee in Guatemala
Although coffee was brought over from the Caribbean in the mid-18th century by Jesuit priests, it was used primarily as an ornamental plant and garden crop for 100 years in Guatemala. Coffee wasn’t widely traded, however, until commercial production began in the 1850s. The volcanic soil and various micro-climates proved ideal for growing coffee in Guatemala. Coffee, within a generation, became the country’s most important crop. In 1860, Guatemala exported 140,000 pounds of coffee, and just 25 years later, the country was exporting over 40 million pounds. Large numbers of coffee farmers were German immigrants responsible for many inventions and innovations related to coffee milling. Most of Guatemala’s coffee was exported to Germany until the First World War, when exports shifted to the United States.
Growing Coffee in Guatemala
Coffee farming practices are similar to other countries in the region, but Guatemala has an abundance of water, volcanic soil, and very distinct micro-climates compared to its neighbors. Although late to coffee, Guatemala recognized and responded to the needs of the emerging specialty coffee sector earlier than most coffee-producing regions. Anacafé, the coffee producers association in Guatemala, identifies seven growing regions: Fraijanes, the plateau south of Guatemala City; Coban, a rainforest region in the center of the country; Huehuetenango, highlands near the border with Mexico; Atitlan, primarily the volcanic mountains on the Pacific side of Lake Atitlan; San Marcos, between Huehuetenango and the Pacific Ocean; Oriente, the driest of the growing regions located near the eastern border with Honduras; and the most famous of all, Antigua, nestled among the volcanoes an hour’s drive southwest of Guatemala City.
Country: Guatemala
Region: Chichupak, Coban
Farm: Rabinal Cooperative
Elevation: 1600-2000 MASL
Variety: Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra
Processing: Washed
Tasting notes: Medium bodied, sweet, and bright with flavors of blood orange, apricot, and plum.