Urisar Ferneldy

  • Farm

    El Paraiso

  • Country

    Guatemala

  • Region

    La Libertad, Huehuetenango

  • Altitude and size

    1800 - 2050 masl, 16 ha

  • Varieties

    Bourbon, Caturra, Bourbon sidra, Geisha, SL

  • Crop

    January - March

  • Cooperation

    Since 2022

We met Urisar while selecting coffees at San Miguel in Antigua. We were immediately impressed by his coffees, as well as Urisar's passion, enthusiasm and attention to maximum quality

Urisar Ferneldy
Urisar Ferneldy
Urisar Ferneldy
Urisar Ferneldy
Urisar Ferneldy
Urisar Ferneldy

Farm

The farm was founded by Urisar's grandfather in 1965. In the beginning, tobacco and corn were grown here in addition to coffee, and cattle were raised. However, coffee gradually became the main crop. Urisar is a trained agronomist and has gradually taken over the care of the farm since 2010. They have moved from simple farming to more systematic care of the farm.

The farm covers an area of ​​16 hectares and is located on a steep hill at an altitude of 1800 - 2050 meters above sea level. Currently, in addition to the Bourbon, Typica and Caturra varieties, they are trying to plant the popular SL 28, Geisha, Pacamara or Moku on the highest points of the farm.

We were surprised by how small the facilities for processing coffee are at Urisar. There is a small processing station with 2 fermentation tanks in the backyard and a plot with 60 drying beds above the house.

Producer

Young and enthusiastic farmers are the future of coffee. More and more young people are abandoning coffee farming because it is becoming increasingly difficult with changing natural conditions and low prices on coffee markets. Fortunately, this is not the case for Urisar Ferneldy, who believes that he can build a successful business through select coffee. Thanks to the power of social media (you can follow Urisar on his Instagram profile Paraiso Coffees), his enthusiasm was noticed by San Miguel Coffees and they began to collaborate with him and connect him with roasters who have a similar view of the world of coffee.

We discovered Urisar through cupping in San Miguel, where his coffees were among the most complex with an elegant fruitiness typical of the Huehuetenango region. From the following year, we included a stop in Huehue in our itinerary when visiting Guatemala, to see how Urisar continues to expand production and experiment with other varieties and processing.

Urisar is a determined and enterprising young man. In addition to producing his own coffee, he also devotes himself to improving the cultivation and processing of coffee by his neighbors, who then help them get their coffee to exporters. In addition to his 150 bags of parchment coffee, he operates with another 1,000 bags of his neighbors. He would therefore like to build a larger facility for quality control and roasting coffee. Currently, he has only limited opportunities to taste his coffee and is dependent on quality control in distant San Miguel.

Processing

As is common in the Huehuetenango region due to the changeable weather, the main processing method is the traditional washed method. After harvesting, the coffee cherries are sorted in a water tank, where impurities and underripe cherries are removed. They are then peeled and fermented for 36-48 hours. This releases the remaining pulp from the beans, which is washed in a water channel. From there, the cleaned beans travel to African beds. Here they are dried for 10-14 days.

In addition to the classic washed method, Urisar also tries other types of processing, such as honey and natural. Due to the high humidity and frequent rains, these methods are quite risky and the result is not always ideal.

Fun Fact

Huehuetenango was until recently a relatively difficult region to reach on the border with the Mexican state of Chiapas. The journey from Antigua to the regional capital took up to 10 hours by car. Then another 3 hours to the farms around La Libertad. Fortunately, a regular flight has started again, which in the coffee community is called nothing other than the "Coffee Buyers Express".

Enjoy with

Farm • El Paraiso

Guatemala
375 Kč
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