About This Coffee
Ivonne Herrera is a go getter with a passion for producing coffee. Though her family has been in coffee production for a long time, Ivonne purchased Finca El Mirador del Volcan in 2017 with a loan from her father.
Ivonne purchased her own coffee farm in part to create job opportunities for women in Aldea Los Pozitos. She employs mainly women on her farm. In 2023, Ivonne expanded her impact and began working with Funcafe to provide medical support to women and children in the community as well.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Hired female laborers selectively handpick ripe, red cherry and process it on Finca El Mirador del Volcan. Cherry is floated to remove any underripes. Then, cherry is pulped and placed in a fermentation tank to ferment for 5 to 6 hours. Following fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water and laid on patios to dry. Laborers rake parchment frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 10 to 15 days for parchment to dry.
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.