Guatemala | Medium

Quiet sweetness meets high-mountain elegance.

From the highlands of Chimiche, San Pedro Necta in Huehuetenango, this Guatemala single-origin offers a cup shaped by altitude, patience, and legacy. Delicate acidity and gentle sweetness unfold with notes of apricot, clementine, and milk chocolate, carried by a light, juicy body and finished with a soft floral aftertaste. It’s a refined, comforting expression—bright enough to feel fresh, grounded enough to feel familiar.

✨ Emotional Focus: Renewal, Balance, Legacy

☕ Flavor Notes:
Apricot, clementine, milk chocolate. Delicate acidity with a light body, juicy mouthfeel, and floral finish.

🌿 Origin:
Grown at 1,500–1,900 MASL in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, this lot comes from Jorge Méndez and family, whose farms reflect decades of perseverance and care. Bourbon and Caturra varietals are fully washed, fermented for 28 hours, and patio-dried for 10 days, highlighting clarity, sweetness, and floral nuance.

🫖 Brewing & Ritual Tips:
Shines as a pour-over or drip, where its gentle acidity and citrus sweetness can fully open. A beautiful choice for slow mornings or reflective moments—when you want a cup that feels both calming and quietly uplifting.

The Story Behind the Cup

This direct trade lot from Chimiche, San Pedro Necta in Huehuetenango, Guatemala is a testament to patience, perseverance, and family legacy.

“I just wanted to own one coffee plant.”

That was the dream of Don Jorge Méndez, who began picking coffee at just nine years old on Finca El Limonar, earning 25 cents a day for long, demanding work on steep mountainsides. Even then, Jorge believed coffee could offer something more.

While working in Agua Dulce, he learned how coffee was bought, sold, and evaluated for quality. Over time, Jorge saved enough to purchase his first parcels of land: El Apiario (The Apiary) and El Panal (The Honeycomb). At first, coffee struggled to grow at the high altitudes, so Jorge planted corn and experimented with varietals until he found what would thrive at 1,500–1,900 MASL.

In 2022, after more than forty years of dedication, Jorge’s journey came full circle when he purchased Finca El Limonar—the very farm where he once worked as a child. The land had been abandoned, but Jorge and his family restored it lot by lot, rebuilding the soil through organic practices.

Today, Jorge works alongside his children, who now manage daily operations across all three farms, as well as the family’s eight apiaries. Together, they continue a tradition rooted in care for the land and for one another.

This fully washed coffee—fermented for 28 hours and patio-dried for 10 days—expresses its high-altitude origin with clarity and balance. Expect delicate acidity, notes of apricot and clementine, milk chocolate sweetness, and a light, juicy body with a floral finish.

What began as the dream of a single coffee plant has grown into a lasting legacy—one cup at a time.