light-medium roast. notes of lemon, toffee, and black tea
region: huehuetenango
town: canton centro, aldea com, jacaltenango
producer: jesus enrique vargas lopez
process: washed
varietals: caturra, anacafe 14
altitude: 1,550 masl
importer: primavera
from primavera:
Jesus started out by buying a small parcel of land and slowly adding to it; he and his wife now own over a hectare of land. It gives him a lot of pride because they had been working toward this goal since they were kids. They face some difficulties in coffee production for sure, including a lack of water in the area where they live. They have to collect water in order to overcome this challenge. He recounts to us that he and his wife set out a trench lined with plastic to collect water recently, but a tree root had punctured the plastic lining, so the water was lost when it seeped back into the ground. They have an artisanal wet mill, and the coffee is depulped the same day it is harvested. Using as little water as possible, the coffee is dry fermented in containers and then washed. The coffee is then collected and placed in the sun for around 7 hours per day for 5 days to dry. It is turned regularly to ensure thorough and even drying. Jesus and his father-in-law Santos are primarily responsible for the wet milling process.