Fine Coffee Fraijanes, Guatemala City, Guatemala

The extra-hard coffee beans here are full-grained, delicious and balanced, and the coffee made with them is pure and rich. Guatemala coffee once enjoyed a reputation as the best quality coffee in the world, but its quality also declined for a time. What is gratifying, however, is that its reputation is gradually being restored.

In 1750, Father Jesuit introduced coffee trees to Guatemala, where the coffee industry was developed by German colonization at the end of the 19th century. Today, most of the coffee industry's production takes place in the south of the country. Here, the slopes of the Sierra Madre volcano provide ideal conditions for growing high-quality coffee beans, and coffee growing at high altitudes is full of vitality. Compared with other kinds of coffee, tasters prefer this mixed flavor coffee with spicy flavor. The extra-hard coffee beans here are a rare good coffee with full grains, delicious taste and balanced acidity. In addition, Guatemala has attracted a lot of attention because of its giant coffee beans. The coffee industry, which once boomed the country, still dominates the national economy. Unfortunately, the domestic political situation is not good for coffee growers. High output is usually a sign of a country's overall economic prosperity.

Guatemala

Guatemalan coffee beans

However, coffee production in Guatemala has declined relatively, at 700kg per hectare, while that in El Salvador is 900kg per hectare and that in Costa Rica is even more astonishing, at 1700 kg per hectare. The export of dangerous Dimara coffee is controlled by private companies, but the National Coffee Council (Asociacion Nacional de Cafe) controls other sectors of the coffee industry. At present, some of the best quality coffee from Guatemala is exported to Japan, where each cup of coffee sells for $3 to $4. Most small-scale producers are descended from the Mayans (Mayan), who like to call cups local people.

Currently, they are also benefiting from a U.S.-funded project, known locally as The Project, which plans to invest $2.5 million to encourage the opening of small, high-quality coffee plantations. The main areas rich in high-quality coffee in Guatemala are Lake Attilan (Lake Atitlan) and Huehuentenango. The purpose of the project is to help restore the vicious circle of high yield and low quality that has plagued the world coffee industry. For example, Bourbon trees grow taller and produce fewer beans than the new dwarf trees, and although they all belong to Arabica coffee varieties, bourbon trees produce better beans and are more popular with gourmets. The project also hopes to encourage local producers to process their own coffee beans, as most coffee fruits are now sold to middlemen, and if coffee processing can be done in local factories, its value and even quality may be improved.

Antigua (Antigua) is also a famous producer of coffee. Antigua coffee is produced in Hacienda Carmona, where the best quality coffee is EL Pulcal, which is not only of good quality, but also has a stronger flavor, richer taste and stronger tobacco flavor than other Guatemalan coffees. Every 30 years or so, the area near Antigua is hit by a volcanic eruption, which provides more nitrogen to the already rich land, and plenty of rainfall and sunlight make the place more suitable for growing coffee. Other coffee producers include San Marco, Oriente & Coban, Palcya, Mataquescuintia and La Uman in Zacapa. The establishment of the Special Coffee Association means that the Guatemalan government has begun to pay attention to high-quality coffee, and the efforts made for it will soon bear fruit.