Notes from our Green Buyer

Aurelio Villatoro produces some of our favorite coffees, and he does this every year. The first time we purchased coffee from him was in 2009. We were trying to begin a Direct Trade program, and we had the opportunity to bring in coffee from Finca Villaure. We bought 20 bags (which was about double our entire production to that point in time) but we were growing quickly and saw the opportunity to begin working with people rather than commodity markets, and we were excited to jump in. His coffee was amazing then and it still is. This coffee, Finca La Esperanza, is from his other farm situated in Huehuetenango. If you like Huehue’s, this coffee will make you sing (but you may want to put down your cup first)!

Notes from our Roaster

Farm-sourced coffees (where we work directly with the farmer or cooperative year after year) offer you the rare opportunity to really learn what a coffee tastes like. Each time a coffee returns to our line-up, it’s that farm’s most recent harvest. And since we continue to buy direct from the same farms like Finca la Esperanza, you get to develop context for what these coffees taste like year after year. Esperanza, one of our Guatemalan mainstays, is a very recognizable coffee. Each harvest, it stays true to being balanced and beautiful. It’s low in acidity with a noticeable sweetness, which makes it both approachable to everyone and versatile when brewing. We look forward to offering Esperanza on espresso in our café, but also can’t wait to take it home and brew it as a pour over!