Acatenango: coffee in the shadow of a volcano

There are places where coffee grows, and places where coffee belongs. Acatenango, in Chimaltenango, Guatemala, is the second kind. Here the mountains climb into volcanoes, and the soil holds centuries of volcanic ash — deep, mineral ground that coffee roots travel slowly.

Our farm has lived on these slopes since 1880. It was called Chalabal — "the jaguar's cave" in the Mayan language — because these lands were jaguar territory. Today we call it the cave of coffee.

The coffee grows between 1,600 and 2,100 meters above sea level. At that altitude, nights are cold and the cherry ripens slowly, concentrating the sugars that later become sweetness and bright acidity in the cup. Harvest runs from December to April: five months of selective, hand-picked passes, cherry by cherry.

In Acatenango, coffee is not an industry — it is an inheritance. Four generations of one family have learned that the mountain sets the conditions — altitude, ash, mist — and that the grower's job is to stay out of its way.

If you want to taste what this mountain can do, start with our catalog. And if you are a roaster or international buyer, let's talk green coffee: this land travels well.