Guatemala Finca La Bella

Finca la Bella was first established in 1960. Teodoro joined his father’s coffee business in 1999, working by his side for the next 13 years. When his father passed away, Teodoro determined he would continue his family’s legacy. Taking his turn as a fourth-generation producer, Teodoro nurtured Finca la Bella’s 85 acres of forest and plants, leveraging the knowledge passed onto him by his ancestors combined with his own passion and expertise. As a result, Finca la Bella has secured its place in the hearts of new generations of coffee lovers with its exceptional coffees nourished by the care Teodoro takes to conserve and recycle, as well as improve the conditions of his estate (recycling coffee pulp, experimenting with varietals and post-harvest processes to ensure quality and productivity, and planting banana trees to control and manage soil moisture).    
Beginning in the 1950s, coffee cultivation turned this remote and once impoverished area into a vibrant center of production. Here, desert meets pine forest, forming Guatemala’s largest cloud forest and home to the country’s national bird, the quetzal. Smallholders farm typically no more than 1.23 ha. along the mineral-rich slopes of the Sierra de las Minas mountain range, where various elevations and microclimates bring fruit to a slow maturity. A range of varieties enrich the region’s flavor diversity and include: Bourbon, Caturra, Pacamara, Pache, and Villarsarchi. A typical cup is aromatic and celebrated for a “harmonious body and delightful sweetness”.  

A traditional Guatemalan process: ripe cherries are handpicked, depulped and fermented, then washed and dried. An extended pre-fermentation process draws on cold water to preserve sugars in their natural state. A distinctive, sweet flavor profile develops as a result.