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.