About This Coffee
Fourth-generation producer Ivan Ovalle owns and manages his family’s Huitz Matig Estate. The Ovalle family purchase Huitz Matig Estate in 1923. While today, Ovalle owns and manages several other farms in Huehuetenango, this estate was the first his family purchased.
While his engineering degree has led Ovalle to also establish businesses in hydroelectric dams and reforestation projects, coffee remains his true passion. He is constantly thinking about how to use his other experiences to improve his coffee farming and has leveraged his engineering background to increase water efficiency at his farms.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Ovalle is meticulous about teaching workers to pick only ripe, red cherry at the exactly right moment. He’s used analyses of Brix degrees (sugar content) to find the optimal moment at which to pick cherry. Workers selectively handpick cherry according to their training.
After selective handpicking, cherry is carefully sorted to select the best and most ripe cherry using visual inspection and flotation. Cherry that passes Ovalle’s high standards is laid on patios to dry in direct sunlight. Direct sunlight helps to speed up dehydration of the parchment and mucilage. Removing excess moisture as quickly as possible and turning drying parchment frequently can help prevent of drying defects such as phenol and mold.
Cherry is turned frequently, especially during the first 3 to 4 days. During this time, workers go over cherry and remove any damaged cherry to ensure only the highest quality cherry reaches the ensuing stages. Cherry that passes the test is then transferred a greenhouse covered with plastic sheeting, where it will dry on raised beds for an additional 13 to 15 days.
It is evident in the cup that Ovalle places the utmost care into processing his coffee. This lot was processed using traditional Natural processing techniques. Ovalle calls the processing method he uses ‘winey’ process in order to differentiate his small-scale processing from larger-scale Natural processing.
About Huehuetenango
Huehuetenango is well-known for its high altitude and consistent weather patterns. The region lies at a nexus of hot air sweeping eastwards from the Plains of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico and cool air rushing down from the Cuchumantanes Mountains. The meeting of this hot and cold air creates a microclimate that keeps frost in check and enables coffee cultivation at higher altitudes. Coffee production at 2,000 meters above sea level here is common. These conditions are perfect for producing the sparkling acidity and distinctive fruit flavors of the region.
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.