I arrived yesterday by bus in El Salvador where I'll spend the next few days visiting farms with Fernando and Ernesto Lima. I'm very excited to be back in El Salvdor, but was also sad to say farewell to the new friends that I made in Guatemala.
In my last blog, I had just visited the Huehuetenango region and the El Injerto farm. From Huehue, we departed by airplane to visit the Coban region...I'll share the story of our plane ride in a later blog, but let me just say that the plane I flew in sat 9 people! The Coban region was very different than any region we had visited on the trip in that the climate was much wetter. Coban receives more consistant rainfall than the other regions, giving the coffee a completely different flavor. We first visited the Chicoj Cooperative for a tour and history of coffee in Guatemala. It was interesting to get yet another view of coffee processing in Guatemala.
From Chicoj, we journied to Finca Bella Vista, owned by the Ruiz family. While still in the Coban region, Bella Vista was much sunnier and dryer than Chicoj. Antonio Ruiz and his family had a wonderful operation and had begun experimenting with African drying beds. The rest of the farms that we had visited to date used the more traditional patio/sun drying methods or machine drying methods. The African drying beds dry coffee in an enclosed space on raised beds made of wood and mesh - while I didn't have the opportunity to try the coffee, we were told that this drying method gives the coffee a different cup profile - I'm looking forward to sampling this coffee in the future.
From Coban, we flew on our tiny plane to the New Oriente Region. After two flights and two farm visits, we settled into our hotel for dinner and (at least for me) to cheer on the New Orleans Saints as they beat the Colts in the Super Bowl!
Our first stop in New Oriente was to visit Pablo and Sonja Solis at Finca Las Nubes (not to be confused with the Las Nubes that I will be visiting here in El Salvador later this week). Las Nubes was a really interesting place to visit. Being a relatively new farm (founded in the 1980s), the Solis family has already produced a Cup of Exellence coffee that brought in an impressive $11/lb in the 2001 COE Auction. Pablo also showed us an area of his farm where he planted some new coffee trees just two years ago. To his suprise (and ours) several of the trees already have produced cherries ready for processing. Typically a coffee tree takes 3-4 four years before it has a usable yield. After a brief tour of the farm, the Solis family treated us to wonderful lunch and music by a local marimba ensemble. It was really great to meet the Solis family and experience not only their wonderful hospitality, but also to witness their love and passion for their farm and the people who work for them...our visit was inspiriing to say the least.
As the 2010 Roaster's Guild Origin Tour drew to a close, we made our way to Finca Santa Isabel, an organic farm two hours outside of Guatemala City. We were once again met by the vibrant sounds of a marimba ensemble and a wonderful lunch hosted by the family and the board members of Anacafe. As our time together drew to a close, the Roaster's Guild group had a chance to reflect on what it means to have relationships with the farms that we buy coffee from and the importance of maintaining those relationships. There is so much work and care that goes into producing the coffee that we enjoy every day. Behind all of that work are amazing people with stories. We, as roasters in the US and around the world, have the great privelage of being able to tell that story...it's a really incredible thing.
Now I am in El Slavador to continue building our relationship with the Lima Family and the Cuzcachapa Cooperative. Today, I am off to visit some lower altitude farms with Fernando Lima. Later this evening, Jess Imig from our Retail Team will join me as we visit Finca Las Nubes, Finca Santa Elena, and the coffee mill at Cuzcachapa. We'll be sure to share our story as we go.
Our Ride to Coban and New Oriente
Hanging out at Finca Las Nubes in the New Oriente Region