Vides 58 FW

Jorge Vides, patriarch of the Vides58 family-owned exporter (and current owner Renardo Ovalle’s grandfather, purchased his first coffee farm, Finca La Bolsa, in 1958. Jorge was the kind of man who poured his heart into everything he did. In addition to cultivating coffee, Jorge also worked full-time as a physician. In the beginning, he saw patients Mondays through Fridays and worked on the farm during all other hours. He later became director of the National Hospital of Huehuetenango, which still bears his name today.  

In addition to producing coffee and saving lives through medicine, Jorge founded a school on the farm in 1980. The school, authorized by the National Ministry for Education, is still educating young people in the community today.  

Vides58 also established a joint program with Association Coffee Care, an organization dedicated to reducing instances of child labor by offering educational and recreational programs to children aged 2 to 14.  

Today, Vides58 is as family-owned as ever. They manage several farms, including Finca La Bolsa, Finca Terrazas and Finca El Sarral.  

Vides58 bases their projects on the Rainforest Alliance standard, which has helped Renardo organize all aspects surrounding the farm – social, environmental and economic. In terms of agriculture, the farm focuses on caring for their soil and maintaining balance within the ecosystem. To achieve this, they design, adapt, monitor, and control how all these factors interact with each other. The goal has always been to protect their natural resources and generate a positive impact within the ecosystem. 

All of these efforts come together in harmony, allowing them to remain consistent year after year. 

The farm has been divided into different lots, each with unique characteristics – a combination of soil type, location, ground cover, shade, and ecosystem balance. Taking this into account, they have planted a variety of exotic cultivars and disease-resistant varieties while also preserving the farm's original genetic quality. The goal is to maintain and care for this system to produce coffees that meet different tastes and needs. 

After selective handpicking, cherry is fermented for 36 hours in bags. Cherry then passes through a siphon tank to separate first and second-quality cherries, before being depulped and graded through a sizing screen. Once selected, parchment ferments for an additional 16 hours.  

After fermentation, parchment is washed through water channels and laid to dry on patios. From the eighth day of drying onward, workers rake the coffee every four hours to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 15 days for parchment to dry. 

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. 

Caturra, a coffee variety known for its short, compact stature, is a natural mutation of Bourbon. It was first discovered in Minas Gerais, Brazil around 1915. The variety is the result of the mutation in a single gene of the Bourbon variety that made the plant smaller but still high yielding. As it spread, Caturra enabled higher-density coffee cultivation.

As a direct descendant of Bourbon, Caturra is well known for delicate and complex flavors that are often floral and fruity. At the same time, its close relationship with Bourbon means Caturra is very susceptible to coffee leaf rust (CLR) and other common coffee diseases and pests. As a result, Caturra was later bred with CLR-resistant hybrids from Timor-Leste, producing the Catimor and its subsequent varieties.

Bourbon is a specialty coffee darling known for its excellent cup quality and good performance at high altitudes. The variety is susceptible to the major diseases, which can make it difficult to grow. Bourbon traces its heritage back to Yemen. French missionaries introduced Bourbon from Yemen to Bourbon Island (now known as La Reunion) in the early 1700s. Bourbon takes its name from the island where it prospered. Bourbon has had a huge effect on modern coffee varieties as one of the major ascensions for many varieties grown across the world. Today, Bourbon is available in both yellow and red varieties.