Santa Isabel - Guatemala 2012 Verified listing

Overview

Santa Isabel is located in San Cristobal, Alta Verapaz; a wonderful region with remarkable mountains, rainforest and impressive flora. It is located in the upper part of Alta Verapaz, very close to Coban, a region that produces strictly hard bean coffee. The farm altitude is 4500 feet above sea level (1,372 meters) and the annual precipitation is around 3000 mm. Flowering takes place during April and June, and the harvest season is between December and April.
The farm is a family business that initiated as a coffee plantation in 1875, when Santa Isabel was granted by the Guatemala ´s President, to the great grandfather of the current owners. The coffee is produced actually by fourth and fifth generation of Valdes Family.
The coffee farm has 187 hectares of coffee plantation where it produces strictly hard bean coffee, of different varieties (Bourbón, Caturra, Catuai and Pache). The annual production is around 2,000 (69 kilo bags) of green coffee, exported to different countries, such as: Denmark, Germany, Finland, United Kingdom, France, Australia and Italy. In the United States of America the coffee has been sold to different companies, such as Starbucks.
In Santa Isabel the coffee growing process is focused in environmental responsibility; they have as reserve a natural forest, and 100 hectares are a reforestation area planted with pine and cypress. That actions help to preserved natural water resources in the farm, and to be habitat for different kinds of animals, such as deer, birds and squirrels. By the other side, we used the pulp of coffee beans as organic fertilizer. As far as quality is concerned, we take care of every step during the production process since the seed selection to storing final step. The coffee is handpicked, especially by women and then is processed in an ecological wet mill to reduce the water consumption; then water is recycled. Coffee beans are dried following two processes: sun dry and, due to climate, also in Guardiola´s dryer.