GUATEMALAN COFFEE REGIONS PROFILE NO. 4: COBÁN

Mist is dense, its a rain forest. You walk the pleasant and cool City of Cobán and all of a sudden from nowhere, a constant, faint, but never ending rain starts; its the "chipi chipi".
By. Josué Morales

Guatemalan Coffee Cobán. Río Cahabón; runs through most of the Cobán (Alta Verapaz) Region.
Photo by Josué Morales.

Guatemalan Coffee Profile: Cobán SHB.

Cobán, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.
Images from Google. 

After some hours you begin to wonder if this faint and subtle rain will ever end. Rain does end eventually just in time to allow for some sunlight to hit the drying patios when coffee is ready to be harvested. Vast plantations make part of this complicated and wet land of may rivers and deep caves. The land is so fertile that people often joke about that you have to be careful of what you drop on the ground because a tree might be grown from whatever you drop. 

Historically these lands have been harvested for over a century, it was one of the first regions in Guatemala to begin producing coffee as a sustainable model. Introduced as a government disposition in the late 19th Century, the land was given to foreign (mostly german) settlers to be administrated and made productive. Coffee rose in this region to become a major influence in the country's income, then spreading to the south and west of Guatemala. Large plantations were broken down into smaller parcels during the first part of the 20th Century, when vast expropriations occurred during  the administration of military governments. Today's scenario is made up of vast producing areas once again that are, in its majority,  administrated by cooperatives and associations of local people who are starting to learn how to achieve the best quality. 

Guatemalan Coffee from Cobán being hand picked.
Photo by Guillermo Cuyún. 

The Guatemalan Coffee Region receives its name Cobán from the major city in the area, but in reality its vast geographical region made up of high peaks, dense forests, and great valleys that transcend many local jurisdictions in the department of Alta Verapaz in Guatemala. One would think that many and diverse flavors would be found among the coffee produced in Cobán, and it is the case, but the strong rain forest climate influence and the low depression systems that constatly spread rain in all of the area give this coffee an unmistakable persistent acidity in its cup. Marked by well balanced fresh fruit flavors in light roasts, it also has a characteristic and well defined chocolate taste when roasted at full city or darker.

Ideal for single origin, straight shots of espresso; it also serves as a blending base as its heavy, chocolaty, and complex strong body will prevail even in the presence of stronger and more intense coffees.

Guatemalan Coffee Regions Cobán. "La Peña del Ángel" as seen from the road right before entering the City of Cobán. Photo by Josué Morales.