Espresso - Guatemala - El Panal

Origin: Guatemala

Region: La Libertad, Huehuetenango

Process: Natural

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai, Bourbon

Producers:  Several small producers in the Santa Rosa region

Altitude: 1600m - 1800m

Tasting notes: Praline, milk chocolate, and strawberry jam

Created in 2006, the Qawale project was designed for small and medium-sized producers. 

The project was created by Vides58, a renowned specialty coffee organization in Huehuetenango for decades. Its approach draws on its expertise and network of small and medium-sized producers in the region. Agronomists and coffee professionals travel throughout the area to share technical knowledge about agricultural practices, fermentation, and post-harvest processing methods.

The Qawale program is based on the principles of Rainforest Alliance certification. Accordingly, its activities, training, and workshops follow the RFA model and focus on increasing native forest cover, as well as ways to maintain protective ground cover. 

El Panal—the name given to this lot—means beehive, because the project requires the meticulous organization of a beehive! In addition, increasing biodiversity on farms helps preserve local bees. 

The scope of the project goes beyond quality: producers benefit from social services such as medical assistance and access to the Montesori school funded by Vides 58. They also have access to recreational and cultural activities. 

The program covers the regions around La Libertad in Huehuetenango. Since the program began in 2006 with a handful of members, many independent producers have joined Qawale, which now includes nearly a hundred producers. 

Most of them process their coffee on their own farms. This requires careful monitoring of processing techniques during harvest to ensure consistent quality across all farms. The producers have all received Q-process training and follow similar drying practices to develop this lot.

“Qawal is the ‘Q’ in Quality + the word awal, which means ‘to sow’ in the Mayan language.” 

The coffee is processed directly on the producers’ farms

They all follow these recommendations: the cherries must dry on patios for 18 days. The layer of cherries exposed to the sun should be kept as thin as possible to prevent the coffee from over-fermenting. The cherries are turned several times a day to allow air to circulate around the fruit, and the drying areas must be covered during humid nights. 

These processing techniques give us a very clean and transparent natural coffee that lets the terroir shine through. Fermentation flavors should not be too prominent.