NW - Peña Blanca - Guatemala 2026

The Story: At Finca Peña Blanca, we believe the best coffee does not just come from a laboratory—it is the result of human connection and relentless agricultural stewardship. Located at the ecological heart of the Sierra de las Minas—where we actively protect a pristine cloud forest reserve of 340 hectares, home to the Resplendent Quetzal, Guatemala’s national bird—our farm bridges a deep reverence for biodiversity with specialty coffee production. Note: In the accompanying photography, you may notice active vegetation within the coffee lanes. This is a deliberate reflection of our fertile soil and high-moisture microclimate; we receive rains for 9 months out of the year.
Our journey with the "Elephant Bean" began years ago as a humble gift from a local producer, Don Julio. What started as a few seeds became an obsession. Guided by the mentorship of industry experts and verified by veteran coffee producers with generations of experience in regional coffee traditions, we committed to a "wide-spacing" strategy—planting every tree with three meters of breathing room between rows. We traded short-term yield for long-term flavor density.
The Process: Our Maragogype beans were too large for standard mill screens, so in 2024 we experimented with a honey-processing method. By skipping the mechanical washer, we preserve the mucilage and achieve a sweeter cup profile. The harvest cycle for this lot spanned from January to April 2026. The final lot reached its target moisture content in the last week of April and was immediately taken to the dry mill on May 2nd to meet the Cup of Excellence delivery deadline. Given that this coffee was cupped during the final week of May—still very fresh out of the dryer—we believe the cup profile is currently in its early stages and will only continue to open and improve further as it rests.