Harvest Season in Guatemala

Its harvest season in Guatemala, spring is starting to heat up while talented hands all around the country are preparing to claim the trophy of this land. 

By. Josué Morales

There is so much work to do when coffee starts to get ready to be picked, the process of perfection starts on this stage to which we roasters (and baristas) will have to pay respect when it gets to our area of expertise. Several weeks ago I walked Finca San Jorge in Palencia (where these photos take place) alongside a very good friend to whom I told at that time that coffee is an Industry of Perfection. Coffee plants have to be placed, harvested and tended in a perfect way, there is a very minimal room for error in every single stage of the process. Then coffee goes to get washed, fermented and dried; which in my opinion constitutes probably the most crucial climax in coffee processing throughout all of its stages. When it gets dried and stored, and ready to be hulled and selected the job of those who grow the coffee is officially finished. By the time it gets dropped into a roaster one who roasts must be ready to show respect and honor all of the prior processes of perfection that came before. It can easily be ruined within a span of a few seconds, but it can greatly be projected if we're able to find, yet again, its perfect roasting profile. We can only hope our knowledge on coffee is high when facing this great challenge, and ready (as I've said in The Guatemalan Experience) to preserve the life of a country, a region, a specific origin, achieving perfection every few seconds.

More to come soon!

Guatemalan Coffee. "Almacigo." Baby coffee plants being nurtured to produce great coffee.
Photo at Finca San Jorge, Palencia. Guatemala; by Josué Morales. 

Guatemalan Coffee. Fermentation tank were coffee spends around 8 hours before being washed.
Photo at Finca San Jorge, Palencia. Guatemala; by Josué Morales. 

Guatemalan Coffee. Being dried in the patio. Far in the distance the Fuego and Acatenango Volcanoes.
Photo at Finca San Jorge, Palencia. Guatemala; by Josué Morales. 

Guatemalan Coffee. Plants in the higher part of the finca, still green and not ready to be picked.
Photo at Finca San Jorge, Palencia. Guatemala; by Josué Morales. 

Guatemalan Coffee. Cherrys starting to ripen in the lower part of the finca.
Photo at Finca San Jorge, Palencia. Guatemala; by Josué Morales. 

Guatemalan Coffee. In the distance "El Serro del Tomastepeq; Palencia's emblematic peak."
Photo at Finca San Jorge, Palencia. Guatemala; by Josué Morales. 

Guatemalan Coffee. Organic fertilizer being produced from the waist of the coffee pulp.
Photo at Finca San Jorge, Palencia. Guatemala; by Josué Morales.