The Farm

A small river runs through Juan Javier’s family farm close to which flowers grow in abundance, hence naming the farm after their beautiful roses. For the last 32 years Juan Javier and his family have been tending to both Bourbon and Caturra variety coffee on Finca La Rosa, which they keep separate during harvest and processing. Spanning 3.5 hectares, the farm is dotted with gravliea and citrus trees, offering shade and a secondary crop respectively.

Their Approach

They do three passes through the trees when the time to harvest the cherries arrives, rather than collect everything in one fell swoop. Being labour-intensive, it costs more, however, it means they can be more selective in picking just ripe coffee cherries. To refine the quality further, they undertake the extra stage of floating the cherries to skim off any floating, unripe fruit that was picked in error. 

In our experience, it’s unusual for small producers in Huehuetenango to ferment their coffee under water; the sugary mucilage is typically left to ferment in tanks open to the atmosphere. Juan Javier, however, submerges his depulped coffee in water for 30 hours to ferment slowly and in a much more controlled manner. This style of fermentation is working wonders in Juan Javier’s particular microclimate, and his varieties seem to be responding well. As in years past we’re finding the coffee to taste sweet and vibrant, with complex, layered and impeccably clean flavours.  

Juan Javier himself has said the following regarding his family farm: 

“Our lands and climate have gifted us with great results, but we always make sure to respect the land and nature in order to maintain a balance, therefore we try to be as organic as possible.” 

The Exporter

Primavera are one of our longest standing exporting partners, who have in recent years invested in a brand-new dry mill. Installing solar panels and being kitted out with Pinhalense grading and milling machines, they have also installed a digital colour sorter to further refine the quality of the lots they’re buying and exporting. As well as taking care of the quality analysis, dry milling and export logistics, Primavera have a boots-on-the-ground approach, sending their team of agronomists to visit their producers throughout the year with the intention of supporting them with both harvest yield quantity and quality.