Whole Bean Coffee

[GWAT-AH-MAL-UH • EL • RE-TEE-ROH • KEE-SAYE-AH]

Process: Washed

Brown Sugar, Black Pepper, Chocolate

This Guatemala is smoother than most, you’ll find notes of black pepper and chocolate. Perfect evening cup of coffee, if you’re into that sort of thing.

A quarter of the population in Guatemala are in some way involved with growing or processing coffee. Near the town of Jilotepeque in the Chimaltenango region, is the expansive farm of Finca El Retiro del Quisaya.

The farm was established 100 years ago by the Ortega family and was recently sold to the Arabigos del Sur organization. The name of the farm comes from a river that runs within the land.

During the harvest, the cherries are carefully handpicked and delivered to the mill located on the farm. After sorting, the cherries are pulped with an eco-pulper to remove the external fruit and fermented in aerobic tanks for 14 hours. The beans are then washed and put through a centrifuge machine to remove any remaining mucilage. They are then dispersed on patios to dry in the open sun for ten days.