Guatemala Agua Tibia Geisha FW

This Geisha microlot—the seedlings were originally sourced from Panama—comes from Finca Agua Tibia, an estate located on the Fraijanes Plateau just outside Guatemala City. The farm has been owned by the Castillo family since 1886. Originally, the land was used to produce firewood for the family's brewery, and in the 1930s Holstein and Angus cattle were introduced. Agua Tibia quickly became one of Guatemala's leading cattle ranches, a focus that remained at the heart of the estate until 2005.

The first coffee trees were first planted at Agua Tibia in the 1950s, when Bourbon and Typica varieties were introduced. At the time, there were very few coffee farms in the region, so the first planting was small and experimental. By the 1980s, the coffee plantation had expanded to around 112 hectares, but it wasn't until 2012 that the family decided to dedicate the estate entirely to coffee production. Since then, Agua Tibia has established itself as one of Guatemala's most exciting producers of exceptional specialty coffee.

Today, around 300 of the estate's 1,530 hectares are dedicated to coffee cultivation. In addition to coffee, Agua Tibia grows avocados, corn, and ornamental plants, while also maintaining a small dairy operation. The Castillo family has also made a long-term commitment to conservation, preserving 465 hectares of native forest alongside another 400 hectares of sustainably managed commercial forest.

Finca Agua Tibia is managed by Erick de la Roca, a fourth-generation coffee producer who also owns La Esperanza, his own farm in Acatenango. Since 2011, he has overseen the day-to-day operations at Agua Tibia, where he lives with his family. While he is responsible for every aspect of the estate, his primary focus is coffee—continuously improving quality, refining cultivation practices, and producing some of Guatemala's most expressive specialty coffees.

The coffee fields at Agua Tibia follow a carefully planned annual cycle. Work with new coffee plants begins as early as May, when young seedlings are planted both in new plots and to replace older or damaged trees. All seedlings are raised in the farm's own nursery using carefully selected seeds from the previous harvest. By the time they are planted in the field, they are around eleven months old and have been given the best possible conditions to establish strong, healthy roots.

Today, the farm grows the varieties Caturra, Pache, Bourbon, Catuai, and Mundo Novo. Gesha and Pacamara were introduced as recently as 2019 as part of the estate's long-term commitment to producing exceptional specialty coffee. The coffee trees are cultivated beneath the shade of Inga trees, whose large leaves enrich the soil with organic matter and help retain moisture throughout the growing season.

To keep the coffee trees healthy and productive, they are fertilized regularly and receive foliar nutrition in October, when the cooler climate also provides ideal conditions for preventing disease. Pruning takes place in February and March to encourage new growth and ensure healthy future harvests. Around twenty permanent employees work year-round at Agua Tibia, caring for the coffee trees and maintaining the exceptional quality for which the estate is known.

ABOUT THIS MICRO LOT

Skörden på Agua Tibia börjar i november och pågår fram till slutet av mars. Under den här perioden sysselsätter gården omkring 200 säsongsarbetare, vilket bidrar till den lokala ekonomin och skapar viktiga arbetstillfällen. Plockarna utbildas i selektiv handplockning och endast fullt mogna, röda kaffebär levereras till gårdens tvättstation för vidare bearbetning.

During the peak of the harvest, the selectively hand-picked, fully ripe cherries are delivered each afternoon to the farm's own wet mill. There, the fruit is removed before the coffee undergoes approximately 48 hours of fermentation in tanks. The coffee is then thoroughly washed with clean water and spread in thin layers across the farm's drying patios.

Over the following two weeks, the parchment coffee is turned regularly to ensure slow, even, and carefully controlled drying—an essential step in producing a clean, balanced, and expressive cup.