Guatemala

La Union

Sweet stewed red berries, black tea

This lot by Jorge Diaz in the Huehuetenango region showcases notes of soft red berries, black tea and caramel.

Jorge Diaz grows coffee slightly differently to many of the other producers we work with in the Huehuetenango region.

Producer
Jorge Diaz
Coffee expression
A sweet & balanced coffee

Regular price: $20.00
incl. vat/tax
Sale price: $20.00
incl. vat/tax
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Guatemala

Jorge Diaz

Jorge Diaz grows coffee slightly differently to many of the other producers we work with in the Huehuetenango region. The location of the farm, ‘La Union’, is close to the town of San Pedro Necta, further south than the Huista micro-region, where many of the other coffees we have worked with this year were grown. San Pedro Necta is much closer to the main route to Mexico than Huista, meaning a much less isolated feel here, and crucially, greater access to market. The Diaz family have taken full advantage with this. Jorge’s great grandparents started with half a hectare of land, similar to many of the producers we have worked with in Huista, but throughout the four generations that followed, have been able to re-invest and purchase land to expand, meaning that La Union now sits on 13 hectares, very large compared to the Huehuetenango average.

"The Huehuetenango profile is still clear here, but softer, with stewed red berry character backed up by a deep caramel sweetness..."

The greater access to market that our partners from Primavera are providing in Huista may allow some producers to do this in the rural north of Huehuetenango over the coming years. This larger size leads to a different approach, planting mainly a single varietal, in this case Caturra, employing pickers instead of working as a family, and employing higher volume processing equipment. However, the Huehuetenango profile is still clear here, but softer, with stewed red berry character backed up by a deep caramel sweetness and a black tea finish, together reminiscent of a dried fruit tea.

Guatemala

Huehuetenango

Huehuetenango is located in the north-western highlands of Guatemala, and borders with Mexico. It is home to the highest altitudes in all of Central America, due to the presence of the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes mountain range, which peaks at 3837 masl. This creates lots of high altitude land to grow high-quality coffee, an important crop in an area where agriculture is the largest industry. A dry hot wind also blows in from the Tehuantepec plain in Mexico to the north, which protects crops from frost, allowing coffee to grow even higher up the slopes, often above 2000 masl. These high altitudes also lead to very beautiful scenery, something the area is known for, but also to a remoteness not found elsewhere in Guatemala.

Nine different ancient Mayan dialects are still spoken here, and the region is home to some of the best preserved examples of Mayan architecture. The remoteness also makes sourcing coffee a challenge here, the journey to farms often takes days over unforgiving terrain, and would-be coffee buyers require knowledge of the local dialects, or an experienced guide. We have visited and worked with our Guatemalan partners at Primavera for the past seven years, and have been stunned by the beauty of both the coffees they have been sourcing, and of this captivating region.

View our seasonal selection of coffees here

Technical Data

Producer
Jorge Diaz
Region
Huehuetenango
Altitude
1650 masl
Varietal
Caturra
Process
Washed
Harvest
January 2023

Washed Process

The washed process involves completely removing both the cherry and the mucilage from the outside of the parchment with the use of friction, fermentation and water. After being harvested, the coffee cherry is then sliced open by either a metal or a sharp plastic blade.

The two seeds (also known as beans) are pushed out of the cherry, which leaves the seed with mucilage as their outermost layer. It is essential in the washed process that all mucilage is removed from the seed which leaves only the flavour that developed in the cell structure of the seed prior to processing.