La Joya
La Joya is a tiny farm owned by Armando Reyes, located in Cubulco, Baja Verapaz in the north of Guatemala where the Sierra de Las Minas mountain range starts.
Armando’s farm is typical of many in the region; it is very small (4.2 hectares in size, half of which is dedicated to coffee), with its own wet mill and very traditional practices. Given its small size, most of the production is managed by Armando himself.
La Joya sits at a very high elevation of 1,750–1,850m above sea level, and this, combined with the moist clay soil and temperate-to-cool climate means that the cherries mature very slowly, giving time for the sugars to develop and resulting in a clean, sweet and complex cup.
Despite having the perfect conditions to produce exceptional coffee, Armando’s potential has only recently begun to be realised. Historically, he sold all of his coffee as cherry to the local market. In 2017, with the encouragement of Eduardo Ambrosio (our export partner in Guatemala who has worked for many years as the head cupper of Anacafe) he purchased a pulper, and began to process his own coffee.
Armando is now focusing on producing the very best quality coffee possible, selectively picking the coffee cherries and processing them for himself, ensuring much more control over quality and resulting in far better prices for his beans. The results have been exceptional and wide reaching. Now many of his neighbours are starting to focus on quality coffee production also, with the support of Armando and Eduardo who are sharing their expertise and proving advice and helping themr improve their quality and yield.
The harvest for La Joya typically runs from January to March. Armando carefully hand-pulps his coffee and then ferments it before placing it on raised beds within a greenhouse that has walls at each end that can be lifted up and down to maximise airflow and control temperature and humidity. This method of drying protects the coffee from the rain and enables him to ensure the coffee is dried slowly and evenly.
We purchased nearly the entire production of La Joya’s Catuai production this year (around 20 bags) which represents most of Armando’s production. This is the first year we have worked with him, but we hope that is the first year of many years to come!
