GUATEMALA LAS MORITAS PACAMARA

Don Higinio and his wife Doña Aura bought their first small plot of land in 1988, naming it San José Las Moritas. Before the purchase of Las Moritas, tomatoes, beans, potatoes and corn were grown on the land. Las Moritas would be the first of many farms Don Higinio would acquire over the years. The first coffee seeds planted here were given to Don Higinio from his father. They began with less than a hectare of land, planting bourbon varietals and small trees.

These parcels of land that make up Las Moritas have red and yellow Bourbon, Pache, Pacamara, Castillo, Typica, Catuaí, Caturra, and a dozen other rare varietals. In total, Las Moritas has 70 Hectares of land with 56 hectares devoted to coffee. The farm consists of planes, hills, mountains, and even cliffs that the workers somehow manage to harvest. The soil is different in each area, influenced by the crop that was cultivated there before. Las Moritas delivered around 4,860,000 pounds of cherry to Beneficio La Esperanza in last year’s harvest.

The yearly harvest begins on the first day of November in the lowest areas of land and finishes in April in the highest parts of Las Moritas. Las Moritas is a mixture of old varieties growing in a chaotic layout as well as newly planted varieties in neatly planned rows. Plants of all ages can be found throughout Las Moritas. Renovations are based on selective pruning as well as replanting new coffee in place of dead plants. Due to the dry climate, an irrigation system has been put in place consisting of reservoirs that pour water into tubes that run between the lots of coffee using gravity to spread water to the plants.