Past

Finca El Recuerdo Black Honey

The Guat Lab by TTCo Exports
Arabica

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  • 76 sales on Algrano
  • 2 Avg. orders per roaster
  • 45 Roaster relationships
Origin
Guatemala
Producer
The Guat Lab by TTCo Exports
Variety
Caturra
Process type
Honey
Altitude range
1530m - 1690m
Harvest period
December, 2021 - March, 2022
Algrano's cupping score (SCA)
85.5 points
Updated May, 2021
ID
GT-100-202112
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The coffee story

Farm: Finca El Recuerdo 
Producer: Mario Ricardo Alarcon Meléndez 
Farm size: 21 hectares 
Location: Acatenango town, Chimaltenango Department, Guatemala. Near the Acatenango volcano 
Altitude: 1530 - 1690 m 
Soil: Volcanic 
Cultivated varieties: Caturra, Catuaí, Bourbon, Gesha and Pache 
Processes: Natural, Honey and Washed with a triple fermentation 

My name is Mario Ricardo Alarcón Melendez and I'm the 5th generation to oversee my family's farm, Finca Monte de Oro, after my mother Ericka Meléndez and my father Mario Rene Alarcón Aguilar. Previously called El Socorro, the farm was renamed by my great grandfather, Fidel Meléndez, due to the great fertility of our soil. 

I have been managing the farm since 2008 and designed a new wet mill to improve the post-harvest process of our coffees. I have a degree in Mechanical Industrial Engineering and have been adapting the processing plant over the years to suit different methods, from washed to honeys and naturals. 

Thanks to one of the roasters I work with I now have a polytunnel with raised beds where I can control temperature and humidity to better dry micro-lots. I started Truth Trading Company with Christian Starry in 2015 after seeing how our parents were struggling with the prices of coffee. We market not only coffees from our farms but also from other growers we know and trust. We do so in a completely honest and fully transparent way, much like Algrano. 

I am constantly innovating at the farm and I follow the guidelines from Brazilian researcher Flávio Borem for drying at the mill. One of the things I learned from him is that aggressive drying of beans leads to higher water activity and that leads to instability within the bean structure. The result is inconsistency and a shorter "shelf" life of green coffee. That is why I monitor the water activity on my coffees and my aim in drying is to reach the 11% moisture content slowly, keeping water activity at an optimum point.  I start the post-harvest by fermenting the cherries before drying.

The process

Black Honey