Guatemala Huehuetenango - Jesus Leiva

Nice sweetness, chocolate, blackberry, caramel, toffee, balanced

TOP LOT

Bag Weight	69 KG BAG
Harvest Season	2020/21
Status	Spot
Lot Number	P608667-5

Alameda, CA: Out of Stock Bag(s)

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About This Coffee

LIMITED TIME OFFER: Buy five bags of any current crop Guatemalan coffee and receive a $150 discount. Buy any ten bags, receive a $400 discount.

Jesús Leiva Cardona grows this fully washed coffee was at 1800 meters above sea level in the Concepción Huista, Huehuetenango region of Guatemala. To taste Huehuetenango coffee is to taste what amounts to the foothills of the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, a mountain range covering over 6,000 square miles and reaching heights of 12,500 feet (over 3,800 masl), the highest peaks being in Huehuetenango. The Cuchumatanes are the highest non-volcanic mountains in Central America and more than 10% of the range sits above 9,800 feet (3,000 masl), offset by deep valleys and canyons. “Cuchumatanes” brings together two Mam words and is accurately if not precisely interpreted as “united by a strong force,” which is a good description of how mountain ranges are made. For all the fascination with and focus on coffee and volcanic soils, great coffee does not grow in volcanic soil exclusively, and exhibit one in this regard could be Huehuetenango (Huehue). It might be said that what coffee producers lack in terms of volcanic soil in Huehue is more than made up for in altitude and climate. The porous clay soil is rich in nutrients, drains well, and does still include volcanic dust from nearby eruptions over time.

Country of Origin	Guatemala
Harvest Season	2020/21
Coffee Grade	GTM CA WA SHB HH FANCY
Bag Type	Grain Pro / Ecotact
Plant Species	Arabica
Processing	Washed
Cup Score	85.75

Region	Huehuetenango

History of Guatemalan Coffee

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.