GUATEMALAN COFFEE REGIONS PROFILE NO. 1: ACATENANGO

Guatemalan Coffee: Acatenango Profile

The region of the Acatenango Valley receives its name from its main topographical influence, the Acatenango Volcano, located in the mid-west part of Guatemala.
By. Josué Morales

The Acatenango Volcano is the 3rd highest peak in Central America, greatly influencing the terrain that's bathed every year in the ashes of the Volcan de Fuego (The Fire Volcano) one of the three active volcanoes in Guatemala, and protected from frost by the warm winds that blow from the Pacific Ocean throught the high plains that stretch all the way to the Atitlán Volcano. The Acatenango region is unique and traditional. Even when this is the newest of the Guatemala Coffee Regions to be recognized, it has been cultivating coffee for over a 100 years, creating a vast presence of coffee forest that nurtures small coffee plantations which bare the highest quality in every crop.

Eruption of the Volcan de Fuego, with the Acatenango Volcano in the back.
(Photo "El despertar de un coloso" courtesy of Mr. Oscar Velásquez.)

Guatemalan Coffee: Area covered by the Acatenango Coffee Region.
(Images from Google.)

Grapefruit, citrics, cherry, syrup, almods, hazelnut and a creamy round mouthfeel describe best the coffee that grows in the many hills, slopes, valleys and difficult terrain of the approximately 5,300 hectares of the region.

Dominated by many forests the coffee tends to have a strong character beneath its subtle flavors. When dry milling this coffee one can  sense a faint smell of cypress, eucalyptus, and oranges that's caused because of the leaves of the trees that surround the patios where the coffee is dried.

This region's production is dominated by many small families that have to organize as members of cooperatives that enable them to raise their volumes, apply from technical assistance, and bring up the overall quality as they individually learn how to take the best care of the small plantations in order to achieve consistency. Since 2005 the presence of Utz Kapeh and Starbucks C.A.F.E. Practices have contributed to seal quality and develop growth for the area. Many plantations in the Acatenango region have also entered the Cup of Excellence auction programs and have proved to deliver great tasting coffee and immense satisfaction to those who grow it, roast it, and finally drink it.

Guatemalan Coffee. Photo "Tus manos hablan." Courtesy of Mr. Guillermo R. Cuyún.