Guatemala - Finca Pampojila

Located at the southside of caldera lake, Lake Atitlan, Finca Pampojila sits amid nutrient-rich volcanic soils at high elevations. Almost daily, the south wind brings moist cloud covering that provides natural afternoon shade to the coffee trees. This phenomenon led the Mayans to name this localelPampojila, meaning “land where misty clouds rise,” which Alex Herrera took inspiration from and adopted as their family farm’s name.

The farm has a 150-year old history of coffee production dating back to the late 1800’s, when it was formally founded and registered. It has since then built a reputation for high quality that has been upheld by the different families who have taken over its operations throughout.

The Herreras acquired Finca Pampojila in the aftermath of the tropical storm Agatha in 2012 and implemented thorough renovation, first by planting Arabica varieties better known for higher cup quality potential alongside resistance to adverse elements, and subsequently by modernizing the post-harvest processing facilities for fermentation and drying to be on par with the requirements for creating specialty coffee grade coffees with a diversity of cup profiles.

In recognition of Pampojila’s standing as a reliable producer of high quality coffees over several generations, the Herrera family continuously strives to improve their knowledge base and on-ground practices to contribute to perpetuating its long-established track record.

Part of that is also by maintaining global standards for environmental protection and ethical practices through annual audits such as for the Rainforest Alliance. Most of the farm’s surrounds have also been submitted to the Association of Private Nature Reserves of Guatemala to preserve the indigenous wildlife in the area.

By collaborating with specialty coffee multi-hyphenate Raul Rodas — four-time Guatemala National Barista Champion, the World Barista Champion in 2012, and 2024 Guatemala National Brewer’s Cup Champion — also the founder of Paradigma Coffee Trading, Finca Pampojila gains insight into patterns of consuming trends in the international specialty coffee market.

This knowledge, gained through Raul’s constant and open communication across his network of world-class roasters, enables them to orient strategic and operational activities at the farm-level toward meeting and pro-actively anticipating consumers’ needs.

For Raul’s part too, he has resolved to be high-quality green coffee buyers’ “eyes, ears, and taste buds on the ground,” matching their requirements with the producers and farms in his dossier, to configure the right combination of specific varieties and processing methods that will construct the desired cup profiles.

Bourbon is highly regarded for its excellent cup quality potential when cultivated at the highest elevations and processed with intention. For this reason, coffee farmers in South and Central America maintain plantings of Bourbon, despite its tendency for lower production and vulnerability to adverse elements, alongside its hardier descendants like the Caturra.

Caturra, a natural mutation of Bourbon, has better prospects for productivity — one reason being its short stature, making it easier to pick cherries from — combined with good cup quality potential. It was first introduced to Guatemala after being bred en masse in Brazil toward the 1940s.

For this lot, Bourbon and Caturra which had grown in proximity to each other were carefully hand-harvested, as customary in Guatemala. They were then processed together following a traditional natural process, where the meticulously cleaned and sorted ripe cherries were directly laid out on raised beds to sun-dry, with Finca Pampojila’s processing workers turning the coffees frequently to ensure even drying and the development only of the desired flavors.

As a result, this Atitlan micro-lot has come to express a balanced cup with aromatic tropical sweetness complemented by streaks of vibrant and tangy acidities.