Finca La Revuelta - Christian Starry - Natural Bourbon

Until 1820, Finca el Xalum was part of a larger Hacienda called Belen in the town Pampichin. During the late 1700s and early 1800s, Pampichin was abandoned. After the Guatemalan independence in 1821, the Jesuits sold the hacienda to Doroteo Samayoa and the area became to be known as Belen. At the time, Belen produced Nopal (cactus) which was processed to produce black ink used in tints for fabrics. It was exported mainly to Europe. 

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when synthetic black ink was being developed, the Hacienda was no longer profitable. We started switching to other products like panela, cattle, and also introduced coffee. At the end of the 1950s, the owner of the hacienda, Margarita Samayoa (daughter of Doroteo), converted the hacienda into one of the largest coffee plantations in Guatemala. 

Back then, she decided to leave the farm as an inheritance to her nephews and nieces. One of them was Carmen, who then left it to Christian who founded Finca El Xalum! Today, the farm is managed by Christian the father and Christian the son, who also built a wet mill and recently a dry mill so they can control the quality of their coffees from plant to port. They established new fermentation protocols to improve the quality of their coffee and also the coffee of neighbouring producers.