LA SOLEDAD, GUATEMALA

In Antigua, the Zelaya family's Beneficio Bella Vista mill is legendary for producing great coffee.

In the Sacatepéquez area outside of Antigua, Guatemala, Lucia Zelaya and her husband, Don Rony Asensio, cultivate Caturra and Bourbón trees at their farm, La Soledad.

Shaded by ubiquitous Grevillea trees at 1750 meters above sea level, these 21 hectares of coffee trees are harvested of their fruit throughout the late winter months. The coffee is then processed at the Zelaya family’s own Beneficio Bella Vista in a mechanically washed manner.

After the skin of the cherry is removed, the emerging fruit-covered beans are scrubbed clean using a water-saving eco pulper – this helps give the coffee the crisp bright flavors we associate with fully washed coffees, but without the significant waste of water, which can be of particular concern in this arid region. The clean parchment-covered beans are then laid out to dry on newly constructed raised mesh beds located in a temperature-controlled warehouse – a significant quality-driven change compared to the patio-dried lots we used to purchase in years past.

The end result is a coffee that is sweet, clean, and amazingly complex. Look for flavors of citrus, raspberry, and graham cracker.