El Guatalon Santa Rosa Cup of Excellence Lot #20
Located just 35 kilometres from the capital of Guatemala City, El Guatalon is situated in the Belen Village of Santa Rosa de Lima, where coffee grows surrounded by lush reserves of pine, cypress, and other native tree species. Over the past 60 years, El Guatalon has been run and managed by four generations of coffee producers, maintaining a domineering legacy as model high quality coffee producers within the area.
2021 was a momentous year for El Guatalon, as they were able to secure 20th place in the Cup of Excellence. Their dedication to environmental protection and coffee quality has allowed El Guatalon to win numerous competitions, making this coffee a true gem amongst coffee throughout Guatemala.
- Farm El Guatalon
- Varietal Pacamara
- Process Fully washed
- Altitude 1,600 to 1,750 meters above sea level
- Town / City Santa Rosa, Belen
- Region Mataquescuintla, Jalapa
- Owner Guillermo Antonio Juarez Solares
- Tasting Notes Sweet, delicate and complex. Delicate cirtus notes of mandarin orange with melon. Sweetness of cola, caramel and milk chocolate.
- Farm Size 50 hectares
Coffee has helped fuel Guatemala’s economy for over a hundred years. Today, an estimated 125,000 coffee producers drive Guatemala’s coffee industry and coffee remains one of Guatemala’s principal export products, accounting for 40% of all agricultural export revenue.
It is most likely that Jesuit missionaries introduced coffee to Guatemala, and there are accounts of coffee being grown in the country as early as mid-18th century. Nonetheless, as in neighbouring El Salvador, coffee only became an important export crop for the country at the advent of synthetic dyes and industrialisation of textiles – in the mid-19th century. Throughout the latter half of the 1800s, various government programs sought to promote coffee as a means to stimulate the economy, including a massive land privatisation program initiated by President Justo Rufino Barrias in 1871, which resulted in the creation of large coffee estates, many of which still produce some of Guatemala’s best coffees today.