Estrella Polar Organic
In the northwest reaches of Guatemala is the region of Ixil Quiché, and the location of a unique pocket of coffee producers. The Cooperativa Integral Agricola Estrella Polar was founded here in February of 2013 thanks to the support of the Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives of Coffee Producers of Guatemala. When the organization was first initiated, there were only 32 members including 4 women. Today, it has grown to encompass 248 members, 62 of which are women, and 22 of them are younger than 29. It is these amazing producers that grew the coffee for this specific lot.
- Farm La Estrella Polar
- Varietal Bourbon, Catuaí, Caturra
- Process Fully washed
- Altitude 1,300 metres above sea level
- Town / City Chajul/San Gaspar
- Region Ixil Quiché, Huehuetenango
- Owner 230 smallholder producers
- Tasting Notes Black Cherry, Butterscotch, Almond
- Farm Size 225 hectares in total
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.