Just one quarter of Antonio’s property is planted with coffee- the rest is native forest, protected by Antonio and monitored by the government who support Antonio financially to protect native flora and fauna. Similarly, the water Antonio uses for processing comes from the farm and is protected. The forest on his farm is certified by the National Institution of Protection of Forests (INAB). He farms 64 manzanas of coffee: half in Caturra, half in Borbon, much of the latter is currently re-growing after pruning. In 2019, he planted 5,000 Gesha plants, and his small Pacamara plants are now over a year old.

Antonio has been processing specialty coffee for several years now, placing several times in the Cup of Excellence. Traditional tank fermentation takes around 36 hours, followed by traditional patio drying over eight to twelve days. To reduce the amount of water used, Antonio has a demucilager to mechanically wash the fermented coffee. An ecologically-minded farmer, Antonio decomposes and composts coffee pulp before applying it back to the farm as organic fertilizer, practices manual weeding and sprays just twice a year for Roya with the most non-toxic product on the market.

This is the first year that Antonio’s pacamara harvest has been large enough to process separately. Pacamara is a cross between the Maragogype variety (from Typica), which produces extremely large beans- and Pacas (a short-growing tree from Bourbon). Pacamara trees are compact in stature, but the beans are huge, and known for their high cup quality (and are notoriously challenging to roast).

Cupping Notes: Black tea, floral notes, nougat, light citrus top notes

Brew Recommendations: Espresso, drip, French press, pour over

Farm Gate Coffee: Farmers paid at least 50% above Fair Trade

Varietals: Pacamara

Region: San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango

Processing Method: Wet process (washed) and patio sun-dried