Guatemala - Los Conejos

CUP PROFILE: Balanced  

this coffee offers moderate levels of sweetness and acidity, leading to a rounded cup with mildly fruitful and pleasantly rich tasting notes

In The Cup:

This natural processed lot from Santa Rosa de Lima, Guatemala yields a balanced cup with a cocoa-like aroma and velvety mouthfeel; anticipate notes of Milk Chocolate, Blueberry Preserves, and Clementine.

When the Ordoñez-Montenegro family purchased land in Santa Rosa de Lima for coffee production in June 2014, they did so in order to strategically leverage a microclimate and soil that's perfect for coffee cultivation. The children had pet rabbits, and these pets were sent to the new farm. Every weekend the kids would say, "Let's visit the rabbits!", and thus the farm was given its name - Los Conejos. (The Rabbits in Spanish)

At first, just a small portion of the land was planted with new trees. When they began producing cherry, the 90% Catuai and 10% Bourbon varieties were given to natural processing. Each year since the first production, lots produced at Los Conejos have performed very well in regional competitions, winning many awards. This initial success inspired the family to invest deeply in more production. Catisic, Yellow Bourbon, Pacamara, Mundo Novo and Gesha varieites were planted, and the farm is just beginning to see the first harvests of some of these young lots. Alternative processing like anaerobic and carbonic maceration are also up-leveling the quality of more mature lots, whose trees had been well established before the transfer in ownership. Cherry picking is determined with the use of brix refractometers. 

Harvest begins mid-December, and cherries are hand-picked through March. The height of harvest is the beginning of March, when the majority of workers are needed to pick ripe cherries. The farm sits amidst an old growth pine forest, with a great variety of other shade trees including cypress and encino oaks, and fruit trees such as orange, lemon, loquat, jocote, pacaya, banana, and platano rojo. The soil is a fluffy volcanic loam composition with rich compost material. Clean water for irrigation and processing is provided by three ground sources, as well as the Pinula River along the northern boundary of the farm. 

In addition to rich biodiversity, Los Conejos practices multilayer cultivation, or polyculture. This approach improves the overall productivity of the farm, adds layers of income diversification, creates food security for the community, and engages long-term sustainability. Crops fruit on
different cycles throughout the year, and animals need tending throughout the year. The farm has goats, chickens and rabbits, as well as bees for pollination and honey production.