Christmas Brews – Week #3
Available until Wednesday 24th December 

Gesha lots from El Aguacate at 1750 masl in Agua Dulce, Huehuetenango

Arlam and his partner Yoesmi are members of a very special co-operative of smallholders called ASIAST (Asociación Integral Agrícola Sostenible Toneca – Toneca is a colloquial adjective for San Antonio Huista where the co-op has its headquarters).

We first met in 2018 via an introduction from Esteban Lara, who managed ASIAST at the time. Arlam had small generational parcel of 15 cuerdas, Yoesmi inherited a parcel, and they initially took over management of Yoesmi’s father’s parcel, then eventually purchased it (or the majority of it). Arlam focussed on clean production, some smart use of fertilizers, and conservation of soil. He also increased the level of shade trees in the farm, made ditches for organic matter. They were interested in transitioning to organic production (for their health and soil health and long term impact), but roya hit hard and they’ve been forced to abandon that idea for the moment. There main initiatives on the quality side are paying workers extra to only pick ripe cherries, doing careful processing, improvements at their wet mill and building african beds.

Arlam is a trained Agronomical Engineer and has worked for Guatemalan’s national coffee organisation Anacafe as a technician (meaning farming and processing technico). His  brother Klisman manages the processing and drying.

ASIAST
The group is working collectively to farm more ecologically, improve coffee quality and access final buyers. Shared Source was in fact the first “final buyer” to purchase directly from the group. They have featured in local media as being a success story – the first co-operative of the region to sell micro-lots directly to the final buyer. Rad, huh!

Although still using conventional inputs (albeit in very small quantities comparatively), the group is implementing some really exciting ecological processes. This is a drought-prone area that is very isolated, where most farms are only accessible by foot and services are very restricted. The group sees these practices as the only way to combat climate change, which has devastated production in recent years. We’ve seen terracing and planting in contour lines to capture water and avoid soil erosion; planting of shrubs in between rows of coffee plants to retain water; high percentage of shade cover; planting native shade trees; composting system and organic fertilization; and a community-run recycling program.

PROCESSING
Arlam’s geisha coffee is harvested in only two “cuts”, as, for him, it ripens more evenly than the other varieties, and so generally receive three picking passes.

The coffee is harvested, floated, and pulped on the same day.The coffee is left to ferment – dry – in a open tank (covered by a roof so it’s not in direct sun)  for two days.

It is washed a first time to remove the floaters and remove the thickest part of the mucilage, and then washed again to remove the remaining mucilage. The washed coffee is then submerged in water for another 24 hours. It is then dried on african beds, which can take from 7 to 10 days.

The only difference between the two gesha lots is the ripeness of the cherries.
Lot 2 had ripe and overripe cherries, lot 1  only had ripe cherries.

PRICING TRANSPARENCY
We purchase parchment coffee directly from the association, transferring quetzals straight to their bank account. Arlam received Q5500 (quetzales) per quintal (100 pounds of parchment) for lot #1, and Q5300 per quintal for lot #2.  We then pay for transport to our chosen mill.

Roasted for espresso brewing.