Guatemala Patzun Finca La Florida

Finca La Florida lies just below the Patzún town of Chuacanun, on sloping mountainside that stretches all the way down to Lake Atítlan. It's an absolutely stunning view on the drive down, taking you from a peak of just over 2000 meters above sea level to the farm itself, starting at 1900 meters. La Florida has been in the Benevente family for 70 years, and many of the old Bourbon and Typica trees you see on the property look to be about of the same vintage! Much of the business management handled by the son, Byron Benevente, who's played a crucial role in rehabilitating the older parts of the farm, aggressively pruning some of the old coffee shrubs to help improve production, and even stumping when necessary (cutting to the ground, leaving a stump) so that they may produce coffee once again. The day to day farm management is handled by Byron's uncle Victor, who you can see in the second photo showing us his antique shotgun over a snack of Champurrado and bread. In addition to the older Bourbon and Typica trees, Finca La Florida is planted in Caturra, Catuaí, and Pache as well. Byron's father planted Graviela trees all around the farm, which now tower high overhead, the natural shade canopy protecting the coffee below, and helping to retain ground water. The coffee is wet processed and dried at the farm, then moved down to Bella Vista in Antigua where it is dry milled, graded, and prepared for export.