GUATEMALA-THE COUNTRY
Guatemala produces about 180 million pounds of coffee annually. This makes them a relatively small producer given annual worldwide production of 7,000 and 10,000 million pounds. Ninety-seven percent of their production is arabica beans, and almost half of Guatemala’s production is considered ‘premium’.

< LAKE ATITLAN

Rich in volcanic soil, the country enjoys cool nights with much cloud cover in the higher elevations (ideal coffee growing conditions). Bordered by Mexico to the north and El Salvador and Honduras to the south, Guatemala enjoys varied terrain with weather patterns coming from both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans—giving distinctly different tastes to their regions. Practically all of their production is shade grown—even the low end commercial coffee farms located on the outskirts of Guatemala City. Guatemala’s organic production is small but growing rapidly (unfortunately in mostly less than desirable cup quality areas).

LAKE ATITLAN REGION
Lake Atitlan is nestled in a volcanic, mountainous region high on the Pacific side of Guatemala’s Central Valley. I have been fortunate to do some traveling in my time, yet Lake Atitlan really threw me! The area is stunning in its beauty! The mountains rise directly and dramatically from the lake. The lake is quietly busy with villagers bathing and doing laundry. The village is filled with men and women in the traditional, hand woven and embroidered, intensely colorful garments of the native Mayans. On top of and over the mountain, coffee grows on steep terrain. The environment is incredibly lush rainforest with coffee interplanted among and under tremendous trees. It put me, quite literally, in the clouds!

THE GROWERS
I met with Diego, the leader of their grower’s group, at their corporate headquarters. This is no shining tower, it consists of two concrete rooms with desks and chairs. Despite our language barrier, we spoke the international language of organic coffee production. Their group consists of over 50 small farms located within a two hour hike from the village.

< CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS, LAKE ATITLAN

Since the farmers have joined together, they have been able to pool their resources and produce enough coffee so they can sell directly to the North American market. The premium we pay for this coffee is well above the price these farmers would be able to obtain by just bringing their coffee to the local mill. In fact, the premium is well above what "fair trade" coffees require. Diego’s wife proudly showed me the solar oven which she and the other women in the group were able to purchase using the profits from their coffee sales.

THE COFFEE
What first attracted me to this region was the quality of the coffee (as it does to any coffee region for that matter). The preparation of the green coffee is remarkable. It is a bluish-green with a consistent bean size which allows for a consistent roast. The bean size is relatively small which is indicative of a more intense tasting coffee. Part of what makes the green coffee superb is the work that the group has done to improve quality. Only ripe cherries are picked, quality control checkpoints are in place, and the coffee is milled for us just prior to shipment, thus giving us a moister product to roast.

As a crop year goes on, coffee loses moisture. This results in a flatter taste which should be roasted ever so slightly lighter to compensate for this loss of moisture. The freshly milled coffee we receive, coupled with the ideal coffee storage climate we have here on the South Coast of Massachusetts (moist sea air), makes for an intensely flavorful coffee all year round.

Fifteen years ago when I got into the green coffee business, Colombian Supremos (the larger bean, gourmet grade) were up at a five cent premium above ‘regular’ Colombians. Now that premium stands at 25 cents. At the same time Indonesian Sumatra’s were about the same price as Colombians. Now they regularly trade at up to one dollar above them. What happened? The specialty coffee took a different approach. They said, "I want your best coffee, regardless of price." Consumers responded and now specialty coffee represents 20% of the coffee market, up from 2% in 1985. Naturally supply and demand has taken its course and those fancy coffees which once ended up ground in a commercial coffee can, or poured into a weak diner cup, now fetch the best price they can on the open market based on quality.