The Echeverría brothers own and manage Santa Catalina. They have 95 hectares, 70 of which are planted with coffee and the remaining 25 are a forest reserve close to the Acatenango volcano. The altitude on the farm ranges from 1550m to 2100m. The higher slopes are planted with Bourbon and the comparatively lower areas with the other cultivars: Caturra, Catuaí and Pache. Bourbon ripens early and planting it at the higher altitude with the correspondingly cooler temperatures slows its maturation down considerably. This means all the farm's coffee ripens at approximately the same time making it easier to harvest the crop. During the harvest the cultivars and plots are kept separate all the way through the picking, processing and drying. The harvests are then tasted and either kept as individual lots or blended. In the last couple of years Pedro and Manuel completed a long-standing project of digging a well. The well was dug to provide drinking water and irrigation for the farm in an extreme drought. It has been a complex and lengthy undertaking but already Pedro and Manuel feel the benefit in having easier access to water.

Finca Santa Catalina

We source and roast coffee from single farms, estates and cooperatives. When we taste a coffee that we like, we want to know where it comes from and who grows, picks and processes it. We travel extensively throughout the year, visiting the producers and cooperatives with whom we currently work and looking for interesting varietals of coffee and new farms from which to buy. During these visits we talk to farmers and cooperative members, learning more about the coffee they grow and process and the challenges that they face. We then look to establish a relationship with the grower and exporter of that coffee. We believe that where such a relationship exists, quality, quantity and price requirements can be discussed in an open and equal way. We see this as sustainable, fair and equal trade.

Finca Santa Catalina

2.5

Finca Santa Catalina

2.5

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