About This Coffee
Santa Filomena Estate is owned by Miguel Angel Hernandez Duarte is a 4th-generation coffee producer. His family acquired Santa Filomena Estate in the 1910s. Miguel grew up on the farm and has spent his school vacations helping his father since he was young.
Miguel received a teaching degree at university and, upon returning to his family farm, worked at a local primary school and managed Santa Filomena Estate. Today, he has retired from teaching and dedicates all his time to his farm.
Cultivation
Nuevo Oriente is one of the oldest coffee growing regions in Guatemala. In the 1980s, the demand for specialty coffee has led to a rapid growth in coffee production. What was once one of the poorest and most isolated regions of Guatemala is now vibrant and continues to grow. The volcanic soil is nutrient rich and the area receives ample rainfall and a good number of cloudy days to help slow drying.
Coffee at Santa Filomena Estate is shade grown.
About Nuevo Oriente
Nuevo Oriente is one of the oldest coffee growing regions in Guatemala. In the 1980s, the demand for specialty coffee led to a rapid growth in coffee production. What was once one of the poorest and most isolated regions of Guatemala is now vibrant and continues to grow. The volcanic soil is nutrient rich and the area receives ample rainfall and a good number of cloudy days to help slow drying.
About Pacamara
The Institute for Coffee Research (ISIC) created the Pacamara hybrid in El Salvador in the 1950s. The variety is a cross of Pacas (a Bourbon mutation) and Maragogype. Pacamara is relatively short with high productivity and is prized for its large cherries. Maragogype is a natural mutation of Typica that’s known for especially large beans. Pacamara's name comes from the first 4 letters of each parent.
Coffee in Guatemala
Guatemala boasts a variety of growing regions and conditions that produce spectacular coffees. Today, the country is revered as a producer of some of the most flavorful and nuanced cups worldwide. We are proud to work with several exceptional in-country partners to bring these coffees to market.
The Guatemalan coffee industry experienced a major setback with the 2010 appearance of Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) in Latin America. The epidemic peaked in severity in 2012, and though CLR continues to affect some farms, Guatemala continues to produce high-quality, record-breaking coffees. In 2017, new and varied processing methods pushed prices at the Guatemalan Cup of Excellence contest to record highs.
The quality of coffee being produced in Guatemala is increasing, overall, due to the diversity of the industry’s producers. There are more and more small holder farmers producing exceptional coffee at high altitudes. Cooperatives are becoming more appealing to so many smallholders because they often offer farmers financing and other support for improving their farming and processing and are frequently able to offer higher prices for cherry than middlemen. Many cooperatives have initiated quality improvement training for farmer members and are becoming more adept at helping members market their coffee as specialty.