GUATEMALA
DON ARTURO
TASTES LIKE: HAZELNUT, DARK CHOCOLATE, BUBBLEGUM
Medium Roast. Available in 340gram or 5lb Bags
REGION: La Libertad
FARM: Finca Bromelias
VARIETY: Bourbon, Caturra, Catimor, Maragogype + Pache
ALTITUDE: 1700 m.a.s.l.
PROCESS: Fully Washed
About Don Arturo
Arturo Gabriel Lopez owns Finca Bromelias. He has 4 hectares of farmland with around 15,000 coffee trees. Don Arturo's washed processed coffees pre-ferment for 36 hours and up to 12 hours in a tank. The washed coffee then dries for 15 days on patios.
Microlot
A coffee microlot is the result of a farmer’s attention to every detail, from cultivation to harvest. These small, unique lots represent the pinnacle of quality - hand picked cherries from a specific plot of land, often at higher elevations, where the climate and soil produce exceptional beans. With notes of hazelnut, dark chocolate and bubblegum, a Guatemalan microlot is a snapshot of the country's rich coffee-growing heritage. At Sam James Coffee Bar, we source microlots that celebrate the hard work of farmers, bringing you a cup that’s as distinct as it is memorable.
About the Washed Process
About Guatemalan Coffee:
Coffee came to Guatemala in the late 18th century. European immigrants were encouraged by the Guatemalan government to establish plantations. Seeds and young coffee plants were distributed by the government, and by the late 1800s, Guatemala was exporting more nearly 300 million pounds of coffee annually.
A large percentage of Guatemala’s population identifies with one of more than 20 officially recognized indigenous groups. Most farmers are smallholders who are either working independently of one another or formally working in cooperative associations.
In 1960, coffee growers developed a union, which has since become the national coffee institute Anacafé, a research centre and financial organization that provides loans and supports growers throughout the various regions.
Starting in 2012 and lasting for several years, an outbreak of coffee-leaf rust proved a tremendous obstacle for coffee production in the country, reducing yields by as much as 25% and causing the government to declare a state of emergency. Anacafé has been working closely with World Coffee Research on various trials and research that will hopefully result in future protection and prevention of similar outbreaks and provide more productive harvests for the smallholder farmers.
