San Miguel El Pachalúm
Creamy and sweet, with green apple, dried apricot, honey and toasted almond. Great balance and structure, with delicate white blossom florals.
This coffee comes from the producers of San Miguel Pachalum, a communally owned and managed parcel of land located in the high hills of the Sierra de Las Minas mountain range, in Guatemala’s Baja Verapaz Department.
In 1909, the land was gifted by the Guatemalan government to the family of military soldiers, with the purpose of establishing a communal farm and village, which came to be known as El Jicaro. Today, around 1500 small holder farmers live in the region, which ranges across 1,200-1,650 meters above sea level. Coffee is grown as the primary cash crop, along with other crops such as corn, black beans and avocados. The farmers have also dedicated 38 hectares to a native pine forest, which provides an important habit for birds and wildlife.
The region was first encountered by our supply partner, Prisma, through a producer named Hector Martinez after his coffees placed highly in a regional competition organised by Anacafé. After growing up in El Jicaro, Hector left the area to pursue a military career. Since returning five years ago, he has become an integral part of the community and an important link between this remote region and specialty focused buyers. He is passionate about specialty coffee and has been instrumental in supporting his neighbouring farmers in improving their farming, harvesting and processing practices, and therefore their crop’s potential for yield and quality.
The families that produced this coffee live very simply. Many do not have electricity, and water is sourced from a natural spring. The community is industrious, self-sufficient and proud. Specialty coffee is new for them, but they are open to learning more and adjusting farming and processing practices. For us, this is very exciting because they are already producing great coffees, so with better resources there is the potential for very high quality and distinct coffees.
The harvest in San Miguel Pachalum typically runs from December through to April. The predominant varieties farmed are Catuaí, Caturra and Typica, with some Pache and Pacamara also being grown. Cherries are selectively hand harvested by the producers and their families and neighbours. Each of the producers processes their crop individually, using small hand operated pulpers and small fermentation tanks. After fermentation, the coffee is washed using water from the nearby spring and laid out on patios to dry in the sun.
One of the most progressive farmers that we met during our visit to this farm was Ipolito Iguarez (pictured above). Ipolito has invested in concrete tanks to ferment his coffee, a greenhouse to dry his coffee and even a car to get the coffee down the mountain. We are excited to work with Ipolito and Hector and hope to get individual farmer lots from them in the future as well.
WHY WE LOVE IT
Baja Verapaz is an exciting new specialty coffee producing region. Though it hasn’t yet been formally recognised by Anacafe (the closest region they recognise is Coban) we are excited for the potential of coffee in this region, and to be supporting small holder farmers who are working hard to elevate the quality of their coffees and reach new markets.
