Peña Blanca
Salvador Melgar
4
The Story: At Finca Peña Blanca, we believe the best
coffee does not just come from a laboratory—it is the result
of human connection and relentless agricultural stewardship.
Located at the ecological heart of the Sierra de las
Minas—where we actively protect a pristine cloud forest
reserve of 340 hectares, home to the Resplendent Quetzal,
Guatemala’s national bird—our farm bridges a deep
reverence for biodiversity with specialty coffee production. Note:
In the accompanying photography, you may notice active vegetation
within the coffee lanes. This is a deliberate reflection of our
fertile soil and high-moisture microclimate; we receive rains for 9
months out of the year.
Our journey with the "Elephant Bean" began years ago as a humble
gift from a local producer, Don Julio. What started as a few seeds
became an obsession. Guided by the mentorship of industry experts
and verified by veteran coffee producers with generations of
experience in regional coffee traditions, we committed to a
"wide-spacing" strategy—planting every tree with three meters
of breathing room between rows. We traded short-term yield for
long-term flavor density.
The Process: Our Maragogype beans were too large for standard mill
screens, so in 2024 we experimented with a honey-processing method.
By skipping the mechanical washer, we preserve the mucilage and
achieve a sweeter cup profile. The harvest cycle for this lot
spanned from January to April 2026. The final lot reached its
target moisture content in the last week of April and was
immediately taken to the dry mill on May 2nd to meet the Cup of
Excellence delivery deadline. Given that this coffee was cupped
during the final week of May—still very fresh out of the
dryer—we believe the cup profile is currently in its early
stages and will only continue to open and improve further as it
rests.
General Information
