Guatemala Santa Isabel

also owned by the Valdés family. For this coffee, we decided to roast to a little bit higher end temp than most of our single origin Guatemalan coffees, as we thought it really helped develop the dark chocolate sweetness and provided a well balanced cup. It is by no means a "heavy" roasted coffee, but we start to develop some of those nutty flavors a bit more. 

Located near the town of San Cristóbal Verapaz, in the cool, rainy reaches of Cobán, Guatemala, Finca Santa Isabel is situated on 300 acres of high, but relatively level, fertile land. With regular rainfall between nine and ten months of the year, it means that coffee flowering is very staggered, with 8-9 flowerings per year. Due to this prolonged flowering season, coffee ripens at different stages, which means that up to 10 passes (with breaks of up to 14 days between passes) are needed to ensure that only the very ripest cherries are selected. Properly drying the coffee also requires meticulous care, as all Santa Isabel coffees are first dried on patios, then moved to green houses, and lastly slowly dried in mechanical driers. All of these steps ensure the highest quality coffee in the cup. 

Don Luis and his son - also named Luis (nicknamed ‘Wicho’) - manage the farms as general and agricultural manager, respectively. Luis’s other son, Rodrigo, helps manage Agricola Valmar, the family export business. Now the brothers’ children (Luis’s grandchildren), spend their school holidays at the farm, much as their fathers did when they were young. It is a true family business, run with love and devotion….. and a lot of expertise!

Net Weight: 12 oz. 

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