Guatemala - Puerta Verde

About This Coffee

The Puerta Verde plantation is located in one of the most traditional coffee regions of Guatemala, Antigua, and is owned by the Zelaya family. The volcanoes "Agua en Fuego" in this area provide a microclimate with extremely fertile soil and an average temperature of 25°C. The Zelaya family has its own wet-mill and a dry-mill, so that they can guarantee the quality throughout the entire process. This blend of the Bourbon and Bourboncito (dwarf variant of the Bourbon) varieties is processed according to the washed method. In this method, which is widely used in Guatemala, the coffee is first picked by hand. Only by picking by hand can only the ripe coffee beans be harvested with the utmost precision. An ingenious control system, developed by the family, ensures that only the ripe berries reach the wet-mill. Here the coffee beans go through a pulper where the skin and pulp are removed. The coffee then goes into a basin for dry fermentation. The Zelaya family masters this extremely sensitive process to perfection. After fermentation, the coffee is washed and dried on raised beds in a unique greenhouse. Here, the producer has extremely much control over the drying process.