Our Process

STEP BY STEP

Beginning with traditional methods dating back to the ancient Maya,

we bring to the modern world an old twist to coffee.

  • PLANTING

    Specially chosen coffee plants are grown from seed and transplanted onto the rich volcanic soil in Lago Atitlan

  • HARVEST

    Coffee beans are harvested from the rich volcanic landscape of the Guatemalan highlands.

  • PROCESSING

    With the fruit harvested, it is carefully selected and processed to prepare the coffee beans.

  • DRYING

    Coffee is laid out in small batches to dry under the warm Guatemalan sun.

  • ROASTED

    Using traditional methods, the coffee is carefully roasted to bring out the flavor.

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Our Process

Cafe “El Tata” is a unique coffee with authentic flavor that was born from the idea of rescuing the ancestral methods for toasting coffee.  Through this process we are able to achieve a variety of coffee that is rich with history and quality.

Harvesting

This is one of the most important processes that define the flavor of our coffee, the coffee farmers who cut our always cut it with delicacy and a careful eye, avoiding coffee beans that are not perfectly ripe.

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The Wet Process

This is done to remove the fruit of the coffee berry and to separate out the inner seed, so they can be placed in containers for fermentation.  The coffee berry pulp separated can also serve as an excellent organic fertilizer.

Fermantation

Coffee beans contain a sticky liquid that needs to be removed before washing.

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Washing & Drying

After 43 hours of fermentation grains is washed with water and then dried for a couple of days until we can remove the last shell. In this process the coffee is called “parchment”

Threshing

To obtain the pure coffee bean, it is important to run the “cafe pergamino” through a machine to eliminate the final shell.

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Classification

After threshing the outer membrane, it is very important to classify and only select the highest quality beans.

Roasting

Here begin a combination of art & tradition.   The person roasting the coffee requires a level of love and dedication.   “Cafe de Oro” is placed in a traditional clay pan on a fire stove. Depending on the amount of fire and level of roasting required, it takes between an hour and a half to two hours for every five pounds of coffee.

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