Los suspiros, Guatemala

COUNTRY: Guatemala

FARM: Finca Los Suspiros

VARIETAL: Villa Sarchi

PROCESSING: Washed

ALTITUDE: 1500 to 1900 m.o.h

OWNER: Axel Palacios

REGION: Huehuetenango

INFO FROM THE IMPORTER

The farm is named Los Suspiros, which means “the sighs” in Spanish, because of the fresh breezes of air you can experience whenever you pause to appreciate one of the incredible views.  

Juan Palacios established Finca Los Suspiros in the early 1930s. He planted coffee trees and also grew corn and tobacco and bred cows. In those years, Don Juan loaded his coffee on mules and traveled a full 5 days on horseback to bring his harvest to Huehuetenango City. 

Juan bequeathed his farm to his only son, Amadeo. Under Amadeo, the farm shifted focus to solely coffee production. In 1997, Amadeo gave 70 hectares to his grandson – the current owner - Axel Palacios.  

Now the 4th-generation of Palacios to own and operate Finca Los Suspiros, Axel is dedicated to specialty coffee production. Axel joined his childhood friends, Fredy and Alejandro Morales, as they expanded their family farm, Finca Rosma, into a specialty exporter.  Today, Alex and the Morales brothers operate Finca Los Suspiros as part of their joint venture, the specialty coffee exporter, Rosma Coffeelands. 

Cultivation

Los Suspiros is primarily planted under Bourbon and Caturra, both of which are commonly grown varieties in Guatemala's Huehuetenango region. Axel has also planted plots of Villa Sarchi, a mutation of the Bourbon variety. Production has become significant enough that single varietal lots, such as this one, can now be produced. 

Harvesting

Coffee from Los Suspiros is processed at the Huehuetenango valley location,  where the Rosma Team works with Palacios to decide on the best processing method for the delivered cherries. If the season is cloudy, Honey is often selected. For bright, sunny days, Natural processing will often be the selection. And for wonderfully 'normal' seasonal weather, the Fully washed method will win out, as it did for this lot!  

Cherry is selectively handpicked and then sorted to ensure only ripe, red cherry is processed. Axel maintains a strong relationship with his hired pickers to ensure that they understand the need for selective picking and are dedicated to picking only the best cherry. Once at the on farm wet mill, cherry is floated to remove any underripes. Cherry is pulped and fermented in fermentation tanks for 24 hours. Following fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water and laid on patios to dry.  Parchment is raked frequently to ensure even drying.