About This Coffee
Silvia Carolina Ramos Diaz owns Finca La Burbuja, her 146-hectare farm in Huehuetenango, Guatemala's most famous coffee growing region. With help from her children, Gilberto and Silvia, Silvia Carolina cultivates Caturra and Catuai on 54 hectares. A portion of the remaining land is reserved for forested preserves that rejuvenate the land and provide habitat for local species.
Cultivation
Finca La Burbuja employs 17 workers to manage the farm year-round. During harvest season, they hire an additional 100 workers to selectively handpick and process cherry.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
After selective handpicking, cherry is processed at the farm’s wet mill. Once pulped, fermented and washed in clean water, wet parchment is sun dried on patios or, depending on the weather, in mechanical Guardiolas dryers.
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.
Strictly Hard Bean (SHB)
Strictly Hard Bean (SHB) specifies the altitude at which the coffee was grown. A coffee must be grown at 1,200 meters above sea level or higher to be considered SHB. The higher altitude and lower temperatures mean that the coffee fruit matures more slowly, creating a denser bean.
European Preparation (EP)
EP stands for European Preparation. EP beans are Screen 15+ with a low defect tolerance.
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.