Guatemala Huehuetenango Organic RFA - Finca Palo Blanco

Nice sweetness and acidity, dark chocolate, tangerine, blackberry

TOP LOT

Bag Weight	69 KG BAG
Harvest Season	2020/21
Status	Spot
Lot Number	P607877-1

Alameda, CA: Out of Stock Bag(s)

Skip to the end of the images gallery

Skip to the beginning of the images gallery

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.

This farm sits at altitudes ranging between 1400 masl to 2050 masl, with an average rainfall of 1.5 meters per year. Finca Palo Blanco is a unique farm that guarantees traceability and eco-friendly practices. It is owned by Ivan Ovalle Altuve, and undergoes constant renewal of plantations with carefully selected varieties to improve production and resistance to diseases. The coffee is shadegrown under native trees and the improvements in the management of honey, wastewater, garbage and waste are made in a very strict manner. The farm has an extension of 20 hectares for ecological forest reserve. The farm continuously promotes and donates yearly to the students of the community, providing desks and other school supplies to ensure the children of the community have everything they need.

Country of Origin	Guatemala
Harvest Season	2020/21
Coffee Grade	GTM CA WA SHB HH
Bag Type	Grain Pro / Ecotact
Plant Species	Arabica
Processing	Washed
Cup Score	86

Farm Name	Finca Palo Blanco
Certifications	Organic, Rainforest Alliance

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.