Ruben is 47 years old and has been working as an agricultural labour since he was 12 years old. He earned 5 quetzales a day on farms on the South Coast of Guatemala – Mazatenango, Retalhuleu, and Escuintla, also working in Mexico for seasonal work when it was available. In 2002 he had saved up enough money to buy his first small plot. It wasn’t planted with coffee, so Ruben started from scratch, planting caturra and bourbon.

Roll forward to now and Ruben has 35 cuerdas (this is a unit of land measurement in Guatemala). Ruben is 100% dedicated to coff ee; he has no other source of income, so about four years ago he decided to start
focusing on specialty coffee, seeking to earn more.

This coffee demonstrates in its goodness (despite being processed in the very simplest manner) the quality given by old varietals, plus that age old factor: terroir.

Cherries are collected ripe, depulped same day of picking, fermented dry between 12 and 24 hours, washed in a different tank, and then dried on a nylon cloth on the ground.

More info on brewing your coffee for maximum enjoyment, check out the Brew Methods page.

Roasted for espresso brewing. It’s a lighter but still highly extractable roast

We ship coffee as whole beans by default, if you need your coffee ground, please let us know at the checkout.