PM : Narcisa Salucio

Region

Aldea Com, Huehuetenango
Varietal

Caturra, Bourbon
Elevation

1600-1700 masl
Producer / Farm

Narcisa Salucio, member of JOVEMCAFE
Finca Buena Vista
Process

Hand Depulped, 32 Hour Fermentation,
Patio dried for 6 days

Narcisa Salucio lives in the small village of Aldea Com, nestled in a beautiful and remote area of the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, the highest mountain range in Central America. Narcisa is a second generation farmer who lives with her children on her farm, which she calls ‘Buena Vista’ after its beautiful views. With only 1.1 hectares of coffee, Narcisa – like many farmers in her area – focuses on producing high quality coffee in order to grow the value of her small harvest.

We were introduced to Narcisa this year through our work with Jovemcafe, a small women’s group made up of local villagers in Aldea Com. Jovemcafe formed their organisation in 2017 in order to find a better route to market for their coffee. This year, through our partnership with US-based charity The Chain Collaborative, and with support from our import partners at Primavera Coffee, we have fully funded an incubator project taking place over two years with the members of Jovemcafe. This project, the idea for which was designed entirely by the women themselves, focuses on two areas.

The first involves building and running a for-profit nursery for fruit, timber, and coffee tree seedlings which will support reforestation and farm regeneration. The women identified that there are currently no local vendors for good quality seedlings, and farmers must travel far and pay much more than what the women of Jovemcafe will be able to offer. This creates value for their organisation, who are sharing in the labour and the profits, as well as benefits the local farming community and native ecology.

The second, the idea for which began after a ideation session with The Chain Collaborative, is hen raising for egg production, the building of which has already begun. Jovemcafe plan to sell the eggs all year round but particularly in-between harvests, so that the women and their families do not have to stretch their money from the coffee harvest all year round. In addition to nutritious food and profits from the hens, their droppings will make a valuable fertiliser that can be used in the tree nursery. These two projects complement each other and highlight the multiple ways that local communities can support each other through collaboration.

We are super proud of our partnership with Jovemcafe and The Chain Collaborative, and through Primavera Coffee we were very lucky to be able to purchase coffee from Narcisa, providing even further support. Check out our blog on the project for more information!

Caravan Coffee Roasters are proud members of 1% for the Planet. For more information please visit https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org

BREWING GUIDE

High-grown Guatemalan coffees are flavour-dense by nature – the altitude of the mountains creates cool nights that allow beans to mature slowly and therefore increase sweetness and complexity. To unlock their potential, we suggest slightly a slightly hotter brew than normal – 96-97 degrees, or just off boil. Start with our standard brew ratio of 60g of coffee to 1 litre of fresh, filtered water, and go from there.

For more brewing tips and tricks, visit our Brew Guides.