Guatemala Cubulco

 Five farms primarily contributed to this coffee: Las Anonas, Las Naranjas, La Esperanza, Grano de Oro and Finca las Piedras. Finca Las Naranjas is owned by Don Ruben Ajualip Gonzalez. He inherited the 2.45-hectare farm from his father and over the last 12 years has significantly elevated his coffee’s production and quality.Don Pascual Teletor owns Finca las Anonas. Don Pascual lived in the United States for a time but dreamed of returning to his hometown of Cubulco and purchasing land for producing coffee. He now farms an 8.4-hectare plot, 1.45 hectares of which are planted with coffee.

PROCESSING

Coffee cherries are selectively handpicked, de-pulped, naturally fermented, washed and sun dried. After the coffee reaches a moisture level between 10.5 and 11.5 percent, the parchment coffee is stored. Before export, the coffee is milled, screened, classified by weight/density, sorted by color and, after resting, packed in GrainPro bags.

GEOGRAPHY

Located in central Guatemala, Cubulco is situated near the Sierra de las Minas and Sierra de Chuacus mountain ranges. Moist clay soil and a rainy and temperate-to-cold climate help the cherries mature slowly and develop the coffee’s signature notes of milk chocolate, citrus and hazelnut.Cubulco is part of the department of Baja Verapaz, a region with improving living conditions and a high percentage of indigenous peoples, who are descendants of the Achi ethnic group. The area’s coffee producers are smallholders who use traditional agricultural practices and operate their own wet mills.