Guatemala
Huehuetenango
Felipe Venenciano Martinez Lopez
Los Arroyos
Caturra, Catuai, Pache
Washed
January–April
Dark Chocolate, Nougat, Spiced, Lime
1600 meters
N/A
69 kg w/ GrainPro
EU - Hamburg, Germany - Schwarze
UK - Bury St Edmunds - Vollers
Los Arroyos farm can be found in the rugged terrain of the La Libertad region of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. The 50 hectares of sloping fields can require careful cultivation and logistics, spanning 1400–1800 meters above sea level. Felipe Venenciano Martinez Lopez and his three sons operate the farm and oversee production, growing Caturra, Catuai, and Pache varieties. Ally Coffee has been working with Los Arroyos for years, beginning with them contributing to our Ceiba Core Coffee. We’re very excited to be bringing this coffee from Felipe and his sons on as a single farm offering.
The farm has four wetmills in the fields that act as satellites for the central mill and drying patio. Here at these mills, coffee is pulped and fermented before being moved down the slopes for drying. Using these satellites has several benefits; the cooler temperature and higher elevation here means that the coffee enjoys longer fermentation times, contributing to complexity in the cup, and the processed coffee is much easier to move down from the steep fields to the central mill for drying. After being fermented, the coffee is dried on concrete patios at the central facility.
Huehuetenango is located in the rocky Western highlands of Guatemala bordering Mexico. Thanks to the elevation and varied microclimates of this mountainous region, coffee from Huehuetenango is well known worldwide for its bright and crisp acidity.
Huehuetenango lies in the Los Cuchumatanes mountain range, the highest point of which is known as “La Torre,” which reaches almost 3800 meters above sea level. Of the three non-volcanic coffee growing regions of Guatemala, Huehuetenango is the highest and driest under cultivation. Thanks to the dry, hot winds that blow into the mountains from Mexico’s Tehuantepec plain, the region is protected from frost, allowing coffee in Huehuetenango to be cultivated up to 2000 meters. The cool, crisp winds from the Cuchumatanes help moderate the temperature, which ranges from 20 to 24 degrees Celsius.
