El Zapote is a family story: they transmit at each generation the passion for coffee and the pride to grow better quality. Hernan is the fifth generation from the Perez family owning El Zapote. With his father, they share the managing tasks of the Finca: Hernan takes care of everything related to the logistics, the quality control, the marketing, the sales and some strategic decisions like the choice of new varieties. His father supervises the plantations, the harvesting part and the processes.
The Hernan Family lives in Huehuetenango City most of the time, and moves to the farm during the harvest (between January and April, during the dry season). During the harvest season, El Zapote hires between 150 and 200 people depending on the trend of high or low harvest. They mostly come from communities near the farm. Pickers are usually men, women tend to stay at home and take care of the household. Some women are hired to harvest fruits and very few are coffee pickers.
Harvesting is the important time of the cultivation cycle. The harvest begins in the low areas of the farm, where the coffee matures earlier. Hernan’s father makes sure with the pickers that the cherries are picked at their optimum point of ripeness, without cutting green beans or camagües (unripes), avoiding hurting the coffee plant and leaving no beans lying on the ground that may attract pests.
Hernán won second prize in the 2018 Cup of Excellence with the first harvest from his Washed Geisha lot. The majority of his coffees are traditionally washed using fermentation pools and washing canals, only recently he has been experimenting with natural processed coffee.
This Guatemalan offers a classic washed Geisha profile - as clean as you'd like, with great sweetness, fruit acidity, and tea notes in a filter. We've been obsessed with this coffee since first trying it in 2018 - and hope to buy more in the future.
We sourced this lot through our trusted partners at The Coffee Quest. They have a great working relationship with their farmers, and we fully trust them to do right by the growers of the coffees. All pictures here thanks to The Coffee Quest team.
