Partners in the Process pt. 1

The real reason there has not been a new blog post regarding the Guatemala Origin Trip is because I wanted to ratchet up the suspense since Andy and I had our flight cancelled after some kind of snowstorm: did we make it out alive? Are we still struggling with malaria and/or hangovers from night after night of endless debauchery with Mike Phillips?

Alas, that is not the case. We returned oddly tanned, well-rested, and flush with geeky coffee processing information that impresses the ladies. Speaking for myself, I have learned just how much effort and time and passion it takes to establish long-term relationships in the industry from seed to cup: every single step and person in the chain is important. Up here in the North, our responsibility is to preserve as best we can the result of the hard work put forth by people in the South, and in doing so we become partners in the process.

Picking up from my last post, we departed from Panajachel in another water taxi that took us back to Santiago Atitlan, and from there we minbussed it a short way until it could go no further up a dusty incline. From there, with a police escort, we piled into the open backs of pickup trucks to visit our first coffee farm. (I will resist the urge to make some kind of remark about popping my coffee cherry.)

 

 

 

 

Pretty much as soon as we arrived on the parcela, I was eating ripe cherries; luckily I was informed in time that they are laxatives

because I didn’t bring fresh pants with me. Anyway, this plot had had some difficulty this growing season; we learned that rainfall has been unpredictable here, resulting in an inconsistent harvest. Such is the life of the coffee farmer, at the mercy of the climate. There are ways to cope, however. On this plot they were using what is called “managed shade”, a process by which existing trees are pruned or new trees planted in order to adapt to the changing climate in regards to cloud cover and temperature and humidity. Sciencey stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this we hauled ass back down the verdant mountainside for a very long drive back to Guatemala City and drinkable hotel water. In part two of this post (coming soon), I will take you through two wet mills – one commercial and churning out as much parchment as possible, the other a labour of love – and one veritable paradise of a coffee farm, straight out of the movie Avatar. Well maybe not exactly like Avatar. As far as I can remember there were no blue people, cheesy dialogue, Michelle Rodriguez biceps or wanton destruction.

Or was there?