El Injerto stands as an iconic estate in the Specialty Coffee realm, having clinched more first-place victories in The Cup of Excellence than any other farm globally.

Off the Huehuetenango!

Guatemala City suburbs: Gorges everywhere!

Over Guatemala City. Volcan de Agua in the distance.

On the way, Volcan de Fuego, smoking away! A farm we buy from, La Soledad, is situated below, to the right, under the clouds.

A photo taken of El Injerto in 2013

Sunrise at El Injerto.

El Injerto Wet Mill, where coffee beans are separated from the fruits surrounding them. Gravity, down slope, is used to move the process forward until, at the bottom of slope, beans are completely cleaned, and ready to dry. Far in the distance – a small town, which has slowly developed, as El Injerto became the most famous coffee farm in Guatemala.

Arturo Aguirre, fourth-generation owner of El Injerto, with Jennifer Howell

Coffee trees are stumped every 5 or 6 years to reinvigorate the plant’s productivity. Traditionally, they were cut down to 12 inches (30 cms). Arturo switched to 28 inches (70 cms) and is finding the plants grow back with more vigor.

Inga trees provide partial shade to protect from the intense sun. El Injerto is allowing these pruned trees to grow higher than in the past, to provide the same shade, thereby decreasing their number. This reduces labor, which has become very scarce.

More Inga shade trees. They provide nitrogen through their roots and from fallen leaves, giving more vitality to the coffee trees. There are several varieties of Inga; the Chalum variety is grown in Huehuetenango.

Spring water rushes down the mountain. It is used in the last step of thoroughly cleaning the coffee beans, really seeds, after fermentation. It also powers El Injerto’s hydro-electric power plant, downstream, furnishing all the electric needs of the farm.

Timber for building enclosures to contain organic matter, mainly spent coffee cherries, that is to be transformed into compost.

Enclosures for creating compost, which takes 6 to 8 months. The uneven spacing of timbers allows oxygen to enter the piles of organic debris, which must be kept moist at all times. A roof stands above to prevent drying from the sun.

Compost from last year’s harvest, ready for further enriching with vermiculture. The resulting blend will be used strictly for the coffee nursery.

A 3 inch deep layer of compost is laid down for the worms to eat through. As soon as they consume their way to the top, another 2 inch layer is added until the worms have burrowed through that layer, and then another layer, etc..

The worms are ready for more fresh earth.

Coffee nursery: many varieties are planted here, to replace older less productive trees. Nurseries are partially shaded to protect from full sunlight. It will take 4 to 5 years for a seedling to become a fully productive coffee tree.

El Injerto has begun to use white netting instead of traditional black. They are finding the plants to be more responsive.

Jennifer next to fully mature, pruned coffee trees.

We drove 1,000 feet up to the higher parts of the farm, at 6,00 ft.. The rainy season is approaching , and the air is misty.

The tumultuous landscape of Huehuetenango. These coffee trees have already been picked. The harvest Is coming to an end. El Injerto extends all the way to the slope on the right. A chalum shade tree stands above the coffee.

At still higher elevation Chalum shade trees (on right) are replaced with Gravilea trees, on left. While not nitrogen producing, as the Chalum trees are, they have better resistance to colder temperatures, even withstanding frosts.

Ripe cherries, ready for picking, have only just ripened at the highest elevations of El Injerto..

Yellow Pacamara coffee cherries. While everywhere else in the world, Pacamara cherries are red, here, some years ago, a few plants mutated to produce yellow fruit. It has won El Injerto 7 first place wins for its buttery mouthfeel and sweet flavor in Cup of Excellence.

Ripe and ripening red cherries. Pickers must hand pick each tree at least three times during the three month harvest , picking only ripe fruit.

The picked cherries are bagged and brought down from the slopes to the receiving station. These bags can weigh up to 150 lbs..

Pickers are paid for the weight they have harvested. Migrant indigenous workers are brought in from widening areas of Guatemala, as labor becomes ever more scarce. Many men, in particular, have gone to the US for better pay.

The cherries are moved through a pipe to a floating tank. The cherries that float are lower grade and will be siphoned off. The floaters go through a rotary sieve, in which really small cherries, of even poorer quality, slip through the slots. Bigger cherries proceed for further processing.

A floater cherry. The two seeds, which we call beans, can be separated further down the line. The greenish bean (left) is dense and will be put into a second grade quality lot. The yellowish one (right), causing the cherry to float, has very little density. It is third grade, will sell for very little, and not be exported.

Floaters are passed through the rotary sieve. The red cherries that sank are transported by recycled water to depulpers.

The lowest grade, having slipped the sieve.

The depulper takes the skins off. The seeds then go to a rotary sieve which separates any remaining skins. The beans, covered in mucilage, fall through the slots, on to the next step.

Depulped Beans with clinging mucilage

The beans go through another rotary sieve for good measure. Quality demands redundancy! Then the mucilage covered beans enter a fermentation tank, where they will stay for 40+ hours.

“Fermentation” in coffee is misleading. It is not the same as with wine or bread. It is, fundamentally, about rotting the fruit, to permit easy removal of all surrounding fruit with turbulent water.

The time coffee beans stay fermenting does affect the flavor and the sweetness, however. We have come to understand that fermenting is not just about removing all the fruit to achieve a clean cup, as was once thought. It is also about developing the full the potential for sweetness a particular lot has, while preserving clarity of expression. The mass of beans are aerated from below to achieve even results.

A plate in the corner of the fermentation tank rotates, slowly. This action slowly mixes the mass of beans, further ensuring even fermenting. The mass of beans are aerated from below to achieve even results.

The finest grade coffees soak for 24 hours in pure spring water from the mountains above. This process cleans the last remnants surrounding the beans, refines the flavors, and adds a further touch more sweetness to the cup.

Large lots are dried on patios, raking one way, then the other. Smaller, special lots are dried on raised beds.

Once dried to about 10% moisture from 60+%, the beans are separated by size (left), and then by density (center).

The third step is sorting by defect. Beans are dropped single file past an electronic eye. Rejected beans are blown out of line. A new, faster, more efficient machine, still wrapped, will replace the current one.

We left El Injerto inspired by this farm’s pioneering dedication to producing the highest quality possible. We will be back, El Injerto willing! Thank you, Arturo!