GUATEMALAN COFFEE REGIONS PROFILE NO. 6: HUEHUETENANGO

Perhaps the most remote and rough areas in Guatemala, this region has proven to constantly deliver great flavor and character in every cup.
By. Josué Morales

Guatemalan Coffee Regions Huehuetenango. "Ocean of Clouds." Photo courtesy of Oscar Velasquez. Far in the distance the peaks of the Guatemalan Volcanic Chain or "Fire Chain" as seen from El Mirador de los Cuchumatanes in Huehuetenango.

Guatemalan Coffee Profile Huehuetenango.

Guatemalan Coffee Regions Huehuetenango.
Images by Google. 

Early December, the drive to Huehuetenango feels wearisome and tired. Its a tough terrain to drive through, but worth it. "You must be early at the plantations and prepare to leave by two," is what the local guides recommend. "If you don't leave by 2.00 pm we better prepare you a place to stay, otherwise rain and mist won't let you out of the mountain." 

Elevation is felt immediately as one reaches the City of Huehuetenango, which gives the Region and the Department in Guatemala, its name. Its an extremely high range of mountains that get nourished by the warm winds that blow from the vast Tehuantepec Plains in México; allowing for great coffee to be nurtured without frost at these elevated altitudes. Home of one of the main Kingdoms of the Ancient Mayan culture, archeological sites still remain to remind us of the great history and heritage of this place. Silver, lead, zinc. copper and gold may be found and excavated in Huehuetenango, but its real jewel and prized possession is the one found in its magnificent coffee. 

Coffee has been produced in this region since the 19th Century, making it a refined process of quality, the one in which coffee is brought up to perfection. Some of the best coffee may be found in the enclosed valleys formed by the mountain ranges. Unique micro-climate variations help coffee to slowly develop into exotic flavors. 

Guatemalan Coffee Regions. Mayan Ruins of Zaculeu in Huehuetenango. Photo by. Josué Morales

Characterized by being strong and highly aromatic, coffee from this region can be very versatile. Demonstrating high chocolate flavor with pears, apple, and cinnamon complexions that are accompanied by a relatively delicate and smooth lightly syrupy body and a gently charred cedar that, with patience, rounds toward caramel. Clean, rich finish with marked changes as coffee harvested moves away from the Mexican border and into Guatemala. 

Coffee farmer at Finca Huixoc in Huehuetenango.
Photo by Josué Morales.

GUATEMALAN COFFEE REGIONS PROFILE NO. 5: FRAIJANES

It's often a big surprise to find such excellent coffee in the mountains that surround Guatemala City. The Region of Fraijanes is a vast extension of old forests, rough land, and peaceful people.
By. Josué Morales

View of the drying patio at Finca San Jorge in Palencia. Considered part of the Fraijanes Plateu.
Photo by Josué Morales.

Guatemalan Coffee Profile: Fraijanes SHB

Coffee from this region is characterized for being one of the most intense from all of Guatemala. Although this region is so vast that the idea that all the coffee produced here can have a common denomination is a misconception from many points of view. The classification of this region was done so based on the geographical location and the high altitudes of the mountain range that surrounds Guatemala City from north to south-west, rather than by a specific criteria of cupping characteristics. 

Under the criteria of specific cupping characteristics common to each area, common altitudes, microclimate variations, and major geographical influences, the whole of the Fraijanes region should be divided into four micro-regions that are as follows:

Guatemalan Coffee Regions: Fraijanes.
Images by Google. 

1. Amatitlán. Constituted by the area that surrounds and is part of the Amatitlán Lake Valley. Subject to less precipitation each year than the rest of the region, this area also has a more direct influence from the strong winds of the Lake and the activity from the Pacaya Volcano. Cup Characteristics are defined by a well rounded cup with persistent acidity that is mellow in contrast to its deep and sweet grape fruit and citric flavors. It has a rich buttery complexion that finishes off with a spectacular caramel aftertaste. 

2. Fraijanes. The area that gives the name for the regions comes from the jurisdiction of the Fraijanes County which is a hard terrain situated on a high plateau that is affected by constant winds, heavy rains, and even frost during the cold season in Guatemala. Cup Characteristics proper to this micro-region are a clean, bright, and strong cup with crisp acidity that gives way to an apricot, blueberry and toffee-nut flavor. It lingers a long and tasteful aftertaste. 

Guatemalan Coffee Regions. Sunrise at Finca San Gerardo in Lake Amatitlán; considered part of the Fraijanes Region. Photo by. Iván Castro.

Guatemalan Coffee cherrys ripe and ready to be harvested.
Photo by Iván Castro.

3. Mataquescuintla. Placed right at the border between the New Oriente Region and Fraijanes, this coffee can be said to have the better part of both. Cup Characteristic: rich and flavorful it denotes a great strength in the cup that has to be carefully tended at darker roasts to prevent bitter tones. Its flavor is bittersweet complicated by both sweet oranges and milk chocolate. 

4. Palencia. Last but not least this part of the region is at the northern part of Guatemala City, it covers up an area that receives just the right amount of rain each year and plenty of sunny days. Its rough terrain garnishes an ideal amount of moisture that allows slow development in the bean, thus making its Cup Characteristic a complicated blend between wild honey and caramel notes. Chocolate is present through all of its roasting stages, and finishes up with dry fruit flavors. 

Profilve variations may be one of the greatest asset of the Fraijanes Region, allowing for multiple flavors and unique treasures that are yet to be discovered.

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. 

GUATEMALAN COFFEE REGIONS PROFILE NO. 3: ATITLÁN

One of the world's most exotic and beautiful places, this region's landmark is the massive crater Lake Atitlán, and its three volcanoes San Pedro, Tolimán and Atitlán.
By. Josué Morales

Lake Atitlán in Sololá. Guatemala. Photo by Josué Morales

Guatemala Coffee Profile: Atitlán Coffee SHB.

Home for endangered birds and wildlife, natural reserves and private forests; there are many things to be noticed driving around Lake Atitlán. The amazing scenery, the magical aspect of this place that seems to be a self-contained universe, the notion of time slowing down, the colorful smile of the people that live in the small towns all around the shores, and especially what stands out is coffee shrubs growing everywhere. Starting from the descent on the road from Sololá, to the outer skirts on the west side of the lake going from the high Volcanoes all the way into the lowlands beyond. 

Lake Atitlán. Guatemala.
Images by Google.

Being a completely volcanic region, the soils are rich in minerals and organic content. Altitude plays and important role in the development of this coffee, being Lake Atitlán at 4.500 ft, what grows on the slopes of these mountains and volcanoes develops slowly producing a small blueish coffee bean that is shielded by the natural occurring phenomenon of Xocomil. These are strong winds generated in the Lake whose role is to stir the waters and regulate microclimatic changes allowing for coffee to grow at high altitudes without being affected by frost. 

Lagoon at Finca Tarrales,  half way up the
Atitlán Volcano.  Photo by Josué Morales

The result of combining all these natural factors with the elaborated craft of local people that produce this coffee is near to perfection. Green coffee from Atitlán smells like coco butter and fresh flowers, giving away raspberry, prune and citric notes when roasted; with an elegant, crisp but pleasant long aftertaste. Although characteristics may vary due to difference in altitudes and microclimatic variations from one part of the Lake to another. The coffee from the three volcanoes can come to be extremely different from each other, differences go to the extreme of depending wether coffee plantations are facing the lake or not. One thing is true, however, and that is the unequivocal quality present in everything produced here. 


Sadly, Atitlán Coffee has become very difficult to obtain, since most of it is smuggled into Antigua and sold as a different origin, or used for blending. But some honorable farmers still remain that enable us to distinguish the subtleties of such an exotic coffee-growing region. 

Roasting Coffee. Picture by Ivan Castro for Coffea Roasters Guatemala.