COFFEE PRODUCER

Coatitlan

Coatitlan are a group of producers located close to, and named after, the Coatitlan lake and volcano. The group are made up of around 50 small farmers that work together to create a community microlot.

Overview

Location:

Sololá department of Guatemala

Altitude:

1500+ masl

Varietal:

Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra

Meet The Producers

Atitlan is both the name of a lake and a volcano, situated in the Sololá department of Guatemala. The lake itself is endorheic, meaning it does not drain in to the ocean or sea, and is overlooked by three volcanoes, Atitlan (with a peak of 3535 metres above sea level) and Tolimán (3158masl) to the south and San Pedro (3020masl) to the west, the slopes of which provide the vast majority of this coffee. Headquarters for the cooperative are in Santiago Atitlan, on the banks of the lake. Although the full range of the cooperative covers altitudes of 1350-2000masl, the majority is grown around 1700masl.

In 2015, the 19 men and 5 women that made up the initial 24 producers registered the name and Cooperativa Agrícola Integral Atitlán “El Paraíso Tz’utujil” R.L. was born with the aim of working with small producers and their partners to better support them in processing and marketing their coffee. This has grown slightly (in 2022) to be 26 neighbouring smallholder members.

Harvesting & Processing

Cherries are hand harvested to ensure that only ripe coffee is selected. To achieve sweetness and red fruit flavour, a 12-hour maceration step is undertaken before pulping, and a 36-hour wet fermentation follows. Fermentation tanks are covered to protect from weather and better control the environment, ensuring consistency in temperature during fermentation.

Initial drying is for 5 hours on a patio before being moved to plastic sheets and a larger location for the next 10-15 days.

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