Guatemala - Finca La Senda - Carbonic Maceration

Guatemala - Finca La Senda - Carbonic Maceration Farm: Finca La Senda
Prodcuers: Arnoldo Pérez & Eugenia Escobar
Region: Acatenango, Chimaltenango
Elevation: 1800 masl
Process: Double Carbonic Maceration (450hrs)
Variety: Bourbon

La Senda:
Rooted in multigenerational farming, they sharply shifted their focus to specialty in 2017. Since then, they’ve built an experiment-forward workflow: selective cherry picking; controlled, sealed-barrel cherry ferments (anaerobic and carbonic maceration); and selective yeast inoculation to fine-tune clarity and structure. Drying is slow, shaded, and on raised African beds to ensure even dehydration and stable water activity.
Varietals include Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Pache, Pacamara, and Geisha, with process variation across lots. The result is clean, expressive profiles recognized internationally. Throughout, the family emphasizes stewardship of people and place: a small village team, transparent handling from harvest through drying, and a steady focus on cup quality over volume.

Process:
Arnoldo's father planted these slopes in the 1940s. Today 24.5 hectares of Bourbon, Caturra, and Typica climb from the village of El Socorro toward Mount Balám, with the high ground left as native forest. Fuego sits 15 km off, pulling cloud cover that slows the cherry down.
The process is the long way around on purpose: cherry picked at 24° Brix, 48 hours of open-air fermentation, 24 sealed, then depulped without water and put through a SECOND carbonic maceration, 16 days with temperature and pH held in check, before 25 days of shade drying.