Zacapa is a Guatemalan department famous for its rum production and is situated near the Honduran border. This rather lovely coffee comes from Fedecocagua, a company trading for over five decades with around 70% the members coming from indigenous populations. Fedecocagua source their coffee from many well-known Guatemalan coffee growing areas, including Huehuetenango, Coban, San Marcos as well as Zacapa. This Extra Prime Washed coffee is from the first harvest, starting in December and running to February. It comes from a lower-than-normal altitude, 1000 – 1400 metres, and heralds the new coffee season, being specially treated and prepared. This lower altitude coffee is hand-picked when fully ripe, pulped, fermented in water tanks and then sun dried on the flat patio roofs of the homes and washing stations that are built into the hillsides. Helen’s brother and I sampled this coffee, and both felt it was an enjoyable cup, without the usual winey undertones often associated with Central American coffees. The Fedecocagua Co-op provides access to credit schemes, technical support, warehousing, and export help achieving higher prices. For most members, coffee provides 90% of their income with each growing averaging just over three hectares of trees and a further six hectares of land for keeping animal, fruit and vegetable growing for their own use and local markets. This Zacapa has an 81.75 SCA score and uses Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra, Pache, and Typica cultivars.
