Armando Quinteros

A lifelong coffee grower with a lineage stretching back generations, Armando is yet another example of the experienced smallholders in this part of Guatemala who grow excellent coffee but aren’t given the chance to connect with a solid buyer who collaborates not only on pricing but also shares knowledge around best practices in coffee processing and offers traceability to the grower about their own supply chain.

Armando, like all of the growers in this zone, manage incredibly small plots and claim all of their earnings through the sole income source of coffee. Armando’s farm is a mere 1.4 hectares with around 6,000 plants, meaning that his annual production at the absolute maximum of production would be around 15 exportable bags. However, given the age of the trees and the relatively low productivity at this altitude, he and many others don’t see optimal yields from their farms.

Thanks for supporting Armando in one of his first ever international sales, and for supporting Cafe Colis Resistencia as well.

Variety: Pache San Ramon and Catuai
Farm: El Matazano
Farm size: 1.4 hectares
Location: El Volcancito Casillas, Nueva Santa Rosa
Altitude: 1750masl
Process: Washed
Processing details:
Cherries are picked at peak ripeness and then moved to the communal beneficio in El Volcancito. Here, they are floated and the remaining cherries are stored in sealed plastic bags in shade for 48 hours. The cherries are then depulped and left to dry ferment, again in sealed plastic bags, for another 40 hours. Once rinsed, the coffee is dried on raised beds for 15-17 days. Parchment is stored in a dry warehouse, sealed in plastic bags until milling.