Guatemala - San Pedro Necta - Guacamaya (Espresso)

Tastes like: Complex, transparent and lifted with a caramel sweetness, and pretty florals. Pineapple, white grape and nectarine.

This coffee was produced by second-generation farmer Nery Pablo López at his farm Guacamaya. Located at 1,900m above sea level, Guacamaya is nestled in the hills that surround the small town of Ajul, in the municipality of Concepción Huista, in the state of Huehuetenango, Guatemala.

Nery has lived in Concepción Huista his whole life, and has been involved in coffee production from a very young age. He inherited the land Guacamaya sits on when he was only twenty years old, after being established as a coffee farm by his dad Lauriano Pablo. When he first took over the property, Nery noticed a guacamaya (a type of macaw bird commonly found in the region) frequented his parcel of land, and decided to name the farm after it. While his dad still helps with the milling and drying of the coffee produced, Nery is in charge of operations. In the years since he has owned Guacamaya, he has been able to expand it to just over four hectares in size, and has acquired a plot at lower elevations where he farms coffee for the commercial market.

Like most farmers in the region, Nery benefits from abundant freshwater, thanks to the local Rio Azul (Blue River) and its tributaries. All coffee at Guacamaya is grown under the shade of Chalum trees (a local variety of Inga) and Gravilea, though the amount of shade needs to be managed carefully every year due to Huehue’s humid, temperate climate. The coffee, beans and maize Nery grows are also intercropped with other fruit trees like avocados, lemons, oranges, and peaches.

Guacamaya is mainly planted with the traditional Red Bourbon and Yellow Caturra varieties, with Pache introduced in more recent years. This lot is 100% Caturra. Nery farms with traditional techniques and organic practices, as is common in the region. Coffee pulp is recycled and dried to be used as fertiliser, and sedimentary tanks are employed to treat the water used during processing. All weeding is done manually, and few chemical pesticides or fertilisers are utilised—though fungicide is applied before flowering, to prevent roya outbreaks. The coffee is selectively hand-harvested, with most labour being provided by Nery and his family.

REGION: Huehuetenango
FARM: Guacamaya
PRODUCER: Nery Pablo Lopez
ELEVATION: 1,900 MASL
VARIETY: Caturra
PROCESS: Washed