Guatemala Coffee

Explore by region

• Huehuetenango

  In many places in the world, coffee grows in volcanic soil. Here in the Huehuetenango region in the western highlands of Guatemala, that is not the case. Located near Cuchumatanes, the highest non-volcanic mountain range in Central America, currents of hot air sweep up from Mexico’s Tehuantepec plain, intercepting the colder air flowing down the mountain and protecting the region from frost. This phenomenon, along with natural shade from the highland jungles, provides the perfect growing environment, allowing coffee cultivation as high as 2,000 meters.

  Coffees from Huehuetenango (pronounced “way-way-ten-an-go”) present a fruitier profile than other most other Guatemalan regions. Some speculate that this is due to how high producers stack their beans on the drying patios. This common practice may not be the most efficient way to dry the coffees, but the Huehue profile is distinctive.

  Huehuetenango

• Antigua

  The Guatemalan highlands of the Antigua region produce some of Guatemala’s most notable coffees. In Spanish, Antigua means ancient, and the city certainly is that. Rich in baroque Spanish architecture and colonial heritage sites and steeped in the native Mayan culture, Antigua has become a hub for for students desiring to immerse themselves in Spanish language studies. Just outside of the city lies San Miguel Escobar, home of the coffee cooperative of the same name.

  Coffee lovers coming to tour the cooperative and working coffee farm must be prepared to hike through the lush foothills. Here they can chat with the farmers and workers as they plant, cultivate, pick, process, and sort the current coffee crop. It’s also a great place to volunteer, working side by side with the Guatemalan people who are characteristically genuine, hardworking, and hospitable.

  Antigua

• Cobán

  It is said that the Cobán coffee growing region of Guatemala has two seasons: rainy and rainier. In fact, the name Cobán comes from the Maya Keckchi word meaning “place of clouds. It is literally a rainforest: cloudy, cool, with only a few sunlight hours per day. From May to December, heavy rains prevail. The other months, the region is engulfed in “chipi –chipi,” a fine, mist frequently drifting down from dense clouds.

  While the high altitudes, limestone and clay soil, and microclimate courtesy of the Atlantic Ocean create a growing environment that coffee trees love, drying the harvested beans in a rainforest environment is a constant challenge. If the beans retain too much moisture, they tend to sour or mold. Farmers in this region must go to great lengths to produce the fragrant, intense coffees that are drawing attention on cupping tables and at Cup of Excellence contests.

  Cobán

• Chiquimula

  Chiquimula in the New Oriente coffee growing region, department of Totonicapán, nestles deep in the western highlands of Guatemala's Sierra Madre mountains. A stunning collage of rugged mountains, virgin forests, volcanoes, ravines, verdant valleys, and sweeping plains, this land was home to ancient Mayan centers. Economically, socially, and culturally, this area played a key role for thousands of years.

  Chiquimula boast the rich volcanic soil, a temperate environment that makes for the best coffees, and more than that, a community which can draw on a centuries-long heritage of coffee cultivation. Not only do most farmers and estate owners claim Mayan heritage, they still speak Mayan K’iche’. Specialty-grade coffee from here is intriguing, balanced, complex, with deep chocolate and fruit presenting.

  Chiquimula

• Fraijanes

  The Fraijanes coffee growing region owes its mineral-rich soil to Pacaya Volcano, the most active in Guatemala. It’s a large area, divided into four microclimate regions, each with their own unique profile variation.

  Amatitlán receives less rain than the others, more activity from Pacaya Volcano, and strong winds from Lake Amatitlán. Mellow, persistent acidity meets sweet grape and citrus with a to-die-for caramel finish. Palencia’s rough terrain gets just enough moisture for optimal coffee cultivation. Here coffee develops slowly and tastes of caramel, chocolate, and wild honey.

  On the high chilly plateau of the Fraijanes area, constant winds, abundant rain, and frosts in the cold season create beans with a bright, cleanly crisp aciity and berry, stone fruit, and toffee-nut notes. And lastly, Mataquescuintla, sandwiched between Nuevo Oriente and Fraijanes, seems to garner the best of both: rich, full-flavored, coffee from this area carries sweet orange and dark chocolate.

  Fraijanes

• Santa Rosa

  Guatemala produces many different types of the world's finest and most distinctive coffees. The country has many unique coffee producing regions that has gained a positive and well known reputation in the industry. Coffee is Guatemala's number one export contributing to the country's growing economic status.

  This type comes from the rich volcanic soils of the Santa Rosa valleys located in the South Central region of Guatemala. The Central Highlands of the country are ideal for coffee cultivation due to high altitudes and rich soil from surrounding volcanoes. The climate allows the coffee to mature slowly, which is said to concentrate the coffee beans flavors. The coffee grown in the Santa Rosa region boasts a balanced cup with chocolate notes.

  Santa Rosa

• El Progreso

  One of the lesser known coffee regions, (though certainly not the least as far as taste profiles are concerned), in the Post-classic era, El Progreso was originally the domain of the Poqomchi' Maya and Nahuatl-speaking Pipil. Their descendents now grow coffee here, melding traditional farming methods with increasing understanding of quality production and processing.

  The El Progreso region is also home to the Sierra de Las Minas mountains, where jade, marble, and other minerals are mined, and to the Sierra de Las Minas Reserve: 143,000 acres of protected biosphere. The reserve is crisscrossed by 63 rivers, blanketed by oaks, pines, pinabete (Guatemalan firs), and many other species of trees, fungi, bromeliads, orchids, and more than 885 animal species.

  El Progreso

• Chimaltenango

  Found in a valley north of the Antigua region and south of Huehuetenango, Chimaltenango is a relatively new coffee growing region. In fact, in some places, coffee is the first crop to be cultivated. Rich in nutrients, the soil has lime and clay content, lending it a slightly acidic pH, giving rise to some outstanding coffee profiles. Unlike most coffee regions, Chimaltenango is quite dry. However, the area has abundant natural springs and coffee-friendly microclimates where the trees not only survive but thrive.

  The higher the elevation, the slower coffee grows and ripens, thus the denser the bean, and the higher the quality. Since the Chimaltenango region ranges between 1300-1700 MASL (4265-5578 feet above sea level), most of its coffees rank solidly in the highest grade, Strictly Hard Bean (SHB).

  Chimaltenango

• Alotenango

  When it comes to history, Alotenango in the Acatenango Valley of Guatemala is steeped in it. The name, derived from “Alo-tenamitl-co,” means "In the wall of the parrots." Many centuries before the Spanish arrived in the year 1524 A.D., it was known as Vucuc Caquix, and its people were--and still are--predominantly Mayan. Some of their myths and history were preserved by a Spanish Dominican friar, Francisco Ximénez. His account, the Popol Vuh (Poopol Wuuj) is one of the few records of the Post Classic period in MesoAmerica.

  Coffee came later, but once ensconced, the soil of Alotenango has proven ideal. Here the rising slopes of the often active Volcan de Fuego are dusted with sand and ash, which growers must balance with organic matter to keep their coffee plants in top production. Much of this area is part of a forest reserve, which helps protect the watershed.

  Alotenango

• San Marcos

  Wettest and warmest of Guatemala’s coffee lands, the San Marcos growing region is located on the western slopes of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, a mountain range loaded with volcanos, and part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” (coffee trees love volcanic soil). San Marcos shares a border with Mexico to its north (the famed Chiapas region) and equally famous Huehuetenango region of Guatemala on the eastern side of the mountains. Like most remote areas, most coffee growers have their own small processing mills on site, and transport their beans in parchment.

  Since it lies on the windward side of the mountains, rains are early and plenteous, bringing earlier flowering of the coffee trees than in some areas of the country. With an averages of 200 inches of precipitation per year, drying coffee can be especially challenging for farmers here. Most utilize a combination of sun drying on patios and finishing with gardiolas, mechanical dryers that help bring the moisture level in the beans to stable levels.

  San Marcos

• Jalapa

  The name Jalapa alternatively means “sandy places” or “sand and bread.” Whatever else the name implies, it gives nod to mountains and valleys of this diverse region. Organized as a department in 1873 and located in the southeast of Guatemala, climate varies from the mostly cool Mataquescuintla area to the warmer plains and valleys near Monjas. And of course, coffee loves the volcanic mountain soil, cool microclimates. Coffees from this region place regularly in the Guatemala Cup of Excellence contests.

  Jalapa’s citizenry is a mix of indigenous peoples and those of Spanish descent. Traditional customs and practices, social organization, dances, and religious cultures are integral to everyday life in the highlands. In Jalapa one can find bull fights and World Cup soccer players to horse parades and marathon runs, Jalapa always has something going for residents and visitors. One important program that has gotten off the ground in the area is called Wells of Hope. Focusing mainly on drilling wells in order to give people access to clean water, Wells of Hope also is helping to build schools and works to encourage self-sufficiency for participants.

  Jalapa

• Palencia

  Though not one of the eight coffee growing regions established by the National Coffee Association of Guatemala (Anacafe), the municipality of Palencia in Guatemala Department (state) is making a name for itself, nonetheless. 17 villages call this part of the mountainous country home, and here agricultural field crops are a mainstay. Coffee cultivation fits right in. Elevation, volcanic soils, and climate are allconducive for the development of specialty coffee.

  Palencia, approximately 50 km north of Guatemala City, is included in the Metropolitan region of the country. Maya people, along with the Garifuna, the Xinca and the Ladina form a majority of the population, though Spanish is the dominant language used. Shaken by earthquakes and ripped by warfare, this part of the country has seen hardship and poverty aplenty. Coffee farmers hope that by improving the quality of their crops, they can obtain better prices, and improve the quality of their lives, educate their children, invest in their communities.

  Palencia

• Mataquescuintla

  Mataquescuintla (from Nahuatl, meaning net to catch dogs) is a town and municipality in the Jalapa department of south-east Guatemala. It covers 262 square kilometres (101 sq mi).
  Mataquescuintla played a significant role during the first half of the nineteenth century, when it was the center of operations of conservative general Rafael Carrera, who led a Catholic peasant revolution against the liberal government of Mariano Gálvez in 1838, and then ruled Guatemala from 1840 until his death in 1865.
  It is located north of San Rafael Las Flores, Casillas, Santa Rosa de Lima and Nueva Santa Rosa in Santa Rosa, east of San José Pinula in Guatemala Department, west of San Carlos Alzatate in Jalapa, and south of Sansare in El Progreso and Palencia in Guatemala Department. It is very near Ayarza Lagoon and an abandoned bismuth mine.

  Mataquescuintla

• Sierra de Las Minas

  Sierra de las Minas is a mountain range in eastern Guatemala, extending 130 km west of the Lake Izabal. It is 15–30 km wide and bordered by the valleys of the rivers Polochic in the north and the Motagua in the south. Its western border is marked by the Salamá River valley which separates it from the Chuacús mountain range. The highest peak is Cerro Raxón at 3,015 m. The Sierra's rich deposits of jade and marble have been mined throughout the past centuries. These small scale mining activities also explain the name of the mountain range.

  The range has several different habitats, including Mesoamerica's largest cloud forests, and is home to a great variety of wildlife. A large part of the Sierra de las Minas was declared a biosphere reserve in 1990.

  Sierra de Las Minas