Guatemala - El Buho

We roast this coffee for espresso. It is suitable for espresso machines, automatic coffee machines and home brewing.

El Buho is a coffee from a plot of the same name, located on the Las Terrazas farm. It is part of Finca La Bolsa in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. The name El Buho means “owl” in Spanish and refers to the plot’s location on the edge of the native forest, where owls can be heard at night.

Finca La Bolsa was bought in 1958 by Jorge Vides, a respected doctor. Before that, coffee had not been grown on this land. Jorge received several awards for coffee production as well as for his contribution to the Huehuetenango region, and the main hospital in the coffee community was named after him. In 2002, La Bolsa placed second in the Cup of Excellence with a score of 94.98.

La Bolsa lies between two mountains, creating a stable and humid microclimate. Combined with limestone‍-‍rich soils, the materials provided describe this as giving the coffee a rich syrupy body and a distinct apple and citrus acidity.

The farm is RFA certified and follows C.A.F.E Practices. Coffee Care funded the construction of a school and nursery directly on the farm, with fully trained full‍-‍time teachers. Children of both temporary and permanent workers have access to education, and families are supported in keeping their children in school or nursery. When a child attends for five consecutive days, the family receives a weekly supply of rice, beans and corn. Thanks to the programme, no children work on the farm today, and the school and nursery classrooms are full. The farm provides housing for both permanent and temporary workers.

Parts of the farm are set aside as protected areas, supporting biodiversity, reducing wind exposure and helping to prevent soil erosion. Inga trees are used as shade trees and also help fix nitrogen in the soil, which is important for the growth of coffee trees and cherries. Renardo also runs an extensive composting operation, where waste is processed with the help of red worms.

The coffee first ferments for 18 to 24 hours. During this time, its flavour naturally develops. The remaining sticky fruit layer, called mucilage, is then removed from the coffee beans, and the beans are sorted in water channels. Finally, they are left to soak in water overnight.

This coffee is made up of the Caturra and Bourbon varieties. Bourbon is one of the older and genetically important Arabica varieties. It is valued for its sweetness, rounder body and gentle fruitiness when grown in good conditions and processed carefully. Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon that became widespread mainly in Latin America. Compared to Bourbon, it grows more compactly, which makes it easier to work with on farms. In the cup, it tends to be clean, sweet and pleasantly lively.