Zelaya Farms Petit Peaberry Caracol - Guatemala

This coffee was produced by Ricardo Zelaya and is a blend of Bourbon, Bourboncito & Caturra peaberry (caracol) beans from three of his neighboring farms in the Antigua Valley. All the coffee has been wet milled at Santa Clara Mill and dry milled at his aunt’s mill at Bella Carmona.

The Zelaya family has been growing coffee for over 100 years and four generations. This renowned family owns farms throughout Guatemala and grows one of only a handful of genuine ‘Antigua’ coffees (coffees grown in the Antigua valley area bounded by three volcanoes – Agua, Acatenango and Fuego).

Finca Santa Clara is located on the fertile southern slopes of the Volcán de Agua in the Antigua Valley at 1,600-1,830 metres. Ricardo Zelaya has managed the farm, which was bought in 1974 by his Grandfather, since 1988 and is the 4th generation of the Zelaya family to have produced coffee at Santa Clara. Since taking over the farm, he has increased the size from 17 hectares of coffee plantations up to 95 hectares as well as building a wet mill, drying patios and a greenhouse to improve the processing of the coffee.

Puerta Verde (Green Door) lies along a relatively level 1,500 metres above sea level near Ciudad Vieja, Sacatapequez in Antigua, Guatemala. The farm’s name derives from its unique position in the Panchoy valley, home to the richest soil, plentiful water and (accordingly) some of the best coffee grown in the area.

Finca Jauja is located outskirts of the town of Antigua at an average altitude of 1,550 meters above sea level. The plantation is covered with gravilea shade trees, allowing the coffee plants just the right amount of light during the different stages of development throughout the year whilst also providing leaf mulch for fertilizer and great habitat for local bird and insect species.

The Zelaya family is passionately committed to both quality and sustainability. The family’s farms are scrupulously well-managed right from the careful selection of varietals planted, to the close supervision of the dry and wet mills. The coffee is shade grown, which protects the plants from direct sunlight, maintains soil health, and provides an important habitat for birds and insect life. The family’s mills are also eco-friendly and feature sedimentation tanks that prevent pollution of the local river systems.

On all the farms, the workers are seen as members of the family, which is why, in 2010, Ricardo began a scholarship program to help workers pay for the education of their children. This program is funded by Ricardo and has the support of buyers from abroad, who have supported the cause since 2012. Managed, now, by his daughter Bel, who has a degree in Special Education, the dream is for the project to achieve formal non-profit status and expand to include not only all the children whose parents work on the farm but also those from surrounding communities

Ricardo has been committed to renovation, investigative plantings and experimentation in processing from the very beginning. He produces microlots according to varietal and processing method (they do honey and natural processing as well as fully washed coffees, such as this lot). He is exceptionally forward looking with regards to the varieties of coffee cultivated, and he has also has established different plots of less usual varietals, such as Geisha and Pacamara, which will enable him to expand microlot offerings in the future. He is constructing a second greenhouse to dry larger volumes of coffee, as this type of drying improves the quality of the cup, and he is building a brand new dry mill (on site, with much of the machines being built by hand), which will give him better control over the final processing and sorting of his coffees.

The Zelayas treat their employees like family, and many have been with the farm and the family for generations. For instance, the farm Administrator, Marcos Rompiche, has worked for the Zelayas for 22 years and is the 3^rd generation to work the land. The Production Manager, Israel Yool, has 16 years working for the family and is the 2^nd generation to do so. Including them, the farm provides work for 25 permanent employees year-round, all of whom help Ricardo manage the processing and production for Fincas Juaja, Santa Clara, Puerta Verde and San Augustin. The family hires an additional 332 additional individuals during the harvest (including 250 for picking alone!).

Every cherry on the farm is hand-picked and then sorted by hand before being approved by the foreman for delivery to the wet mill. The farm also hires ‘special pickers’ who have demonstrated particular dexterity and are selected to hand harvest some of the farms’ microlots using impressive attention to detail. These employees can receive more than double the minimum daily wage through picking coffee at the farm. According to Ricardo, although they are very demanding about picking practices, people come back year upon year, which is a testament to the fair treatment they receive. In fact, Ricardo’s employees recently made a ‘happy’ video for him and his family to express their satisfaction with their work environment. 

Regarding processing:

For washed coffees, fermentation runs around 14-22 hours. Santa Clara mill is very careful with their scarce water resources, as Antigua experiences an extended dry season and water reserves are increasingly threatened by population growth and urbanization. Water that is used to wash fermented coffee is recycled after having all solids removed and is reused during the depulping stage for the following lot to be processed. This has the added benefit of inoculating the next batch as it is pulped, which speeds fermentation times and helps maintain consistent mix of yeasts and bacteria during fermentation. After being used twice in this way, the water is filtered through a complex treatment system of filters and sedimentation tanks, with all solids being recycled and composted as fertilizer.

Peaberry coffee is often called ‘caracol’ or ‘caracolito’ (little snail) in Guatemala.  Bel, Ricardo’s daughter, however, thought a better name for the coffee would be ‘Petit’ (little) Zelaya (“Because we are all so short,” she says). Whatever you call it, we find it delicious.