Guatemala El Vergel - Espresso

Region: Huehuetenango

Process: Natural

Variety: Caturra, Catimor

Altitude: 1600 masl

SCA score: 86

 The San Marcos department runs alongside the Huehuetenango department in Guatemala's northwest. It has a similarly stellar reputation for coffee quality. This part of the country is highly volcanic, steep, and extremely fertile—it is no surprise there are copious organic certified producers in San Marcos benefitting from such ideal coffee conditions and reinvesting what they can to maintain these resources.

Finca Experimental El Vergel ("the orchard") is owned and managed by a specialty exporter organisation, Federación Comercializadora de Café Especial de Guatemala (FECCEG), an umbrella organisation that works logistics, quality analysis, and marketing on behalf of select smallholder groups across Guatemala. The 24-hectare property sits in a corridor of cloud forest close to the base of Volcán Tajumulco and within a land reserve that is part of the San Rafael Pie de la Cuesta municipality. The farm was initially acquired in 2013 by FECCEG as an experimental and demonstration farm meant to showcase organic agricultural methods and a high level of biodiversity, both to benefit the final coffee. El Vergel is currently the site of a World Coffee Research variety trial. It includes small plots of Marsellesa, Obata, Anacafe 14, and various Sarchimors, all monitored for viability in the local climate. The farm also produces taro, bananas, bamboo, and sheep for wool.

As you might expect, processing at El Vergel is very precise: cherry is carefully pre-sorted and then mechanically de-pulped and de-mucilaged using a Penagos machine. This globally renowned water-efficient device uses friction and water pressure to remove mucilage before fermentation. Once de-pulped and de-mucilaged, parchment is fermented in concrete tanks for 15-24 hours and washed in fresh water from one of the farm's four natural springs. Drying takes place in a series of greenhouses and solar dryers. Once complete, the finished parchment is transported to FECCEG's primary dry mill for coding, sampling, and quality analysis. This year's coffee is delightful and uniquely bright, reminding us of strawberries, ripe bananas, and chocolate.