Quarterly Roastmaster's Select Coffee Beans

Although coffee was brought over to Guatemala from the Caribbean in the mid-18th century by Jesuit priests, it was used primarily as an ornamental plant and garden crop for 100 years in Guatemala. Coffee wasn’t widely traded, however, until commercial production began in the 1850s. The volcanic soil and various micro-climates proved ideal for growing coffee in Guatemala. Coffee, within a generation, became the country’s most important crop. In 1860, Guatemala exported 140,000 pounds of coffee, and just 25 years later, the country was exporting over 40 million pounds. Large numbers of coffee farmers were German immigrants responsible for many inventions and innovations related to coffee milling. Most of Guatemala’s coffee was exported to Germany until the First World War, when exports shifted to the United States.

The FECCEG (Federación Comercializadora de Café Especial de Guatemala, or Guatemalan Specialty Coffee Marketing Federation) has partnered with coffee producers in San Martin Jilotepeque since 2013, uncovering a thriving commercial coffee tradition across 13 municipalities surrounding Joyabaj. The region's track record for producing high-quality coffee validated the need for a central wet mill to purchase and process ripe coffee cherries. Located in an accessible hub with all necessary operational services, the Joyabaj Wet Mill completed its first processing season from January to April 2021, handling 5,000 quintals of parchment coffee.

Harvesting, collection, and initial bean selection are managed directly by producer families. Because not all farmers have access to transportation, designated haulers move the harvested cherries from local farms to the mill. Once at the Joyabaj Wet Mill, the cherries are washed and sorted to remove low-quality floaters, then fermented in their husk for an average of 8 hours. Finally, the coffee is moved to drying patios or African beds for 8 to 10 days, where workers manually rake the beans and perform daily quality checks to ensure uniform, controlled drying.