Guatemala Rio Azul Huehuetenango - 5 lb Bag

Cherry is pulped and then dry fermented for 24 to 36 hours. Parchment is then washed in clean water and dried using a mixture of sun drying on a patio and a mechanical Guardiola dryer. It takes a total of 10 to 12 days for parchment to dry fully.

Guatemala Huehuetenango Rio Azul is sourced from four-hundred family-owned farms located within the municipality of Huehuetenango in the department of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. On average, producers cultivate coffee on 2 acres of land intercropped with corn and beans produced for their own consumption. The producers have very little infrastructure to process their own coffee so they have partnered with an export company called Unitrade Coffee, which has a centrally located wet mill in Huehuetenango where producers can deliver their cherry. In addition to supporting coffee producers improve their access to international markets, Unitrade established an organization called CoffeeCare (focused on education, nutrition, and health) to ensure that producers have healthy places to send their children to learn, grow and play while they are harvesting coffee.

Huehuetenango is well-known for its high altitude andconsistent weather patterns. The region lies at a nexusof hot air sweeping eastwards from the Plains ofTehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico and cool air rushingdown from the Cuchumantanes Mountains. The meetingof this hot and cold air creates a microclimate that keepsfrost in check and enables coff ee cultivation at higheraltitudes. Coff ee production at 2,000 meters above sealevel here is common. These conditions are perfect forproducing the sparkling acidity and distinctive fruitfl avors of the region.

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.