San Jacinto Medium, Guatemala

Since 2016, George Howell Coffee has sourced coffee from San Jacinto, a small mountain community perched high in the western highlands of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Home to the Mayan Mam people, San Jacinto is a place where steep slopes touch the clouds and life follows the contours of the land.

The community sits between 5,600 and 6,200 feet above sea level, where cool air and soft, filtered light nurture the coffee trees, lightly shaded with nitrogen-producing trees above. Here, three members of the Pérez Sánchez family—Jacinto, Francisco, and Rudy—devote themselves to cultivating coffee with care rooted in tradition and the rhythms of nature.

The Pérez family grows primarily Bourbon, along with smaller plots of Caturra and Pache—classic Huehuetenango varieties prized for their sweetness and clarity—plus a smattering of disease-resistant Catimor. At this altitude, the harvest comes late. Picking begins in late February and continues through April. Families move through the trees, hand-selecting only ripe cherries over two or three passes. There are no machines—only hands, voices, and the steady tempo of the season.

After each day’s harvest, the family begins processing early the next morning. Around seven o’clock, the outer skins of the cherries are removed using a small hand pulper. The beans are then placed in clean tanks, where natural microorganisms ferment the remaining mucilage for about twenty-four hours. This step is guided not by instruments but by experience—by the feel of the air, the scent of the beans, and the texture when the beans are rubbed together. When full friction is reached, fermentation is complete. The coffee is then washed in fresh mountain water to remove all remaining mucilage and spread out to dry on patios under the sun for fifteen to twenty days. Nothing is rushed. The beans are raked and turned often to ensure even drying. Patience and observation define every stage.

Coffee is not the family’s only livelihood. Some members teach in local schools; others run small shops. A few relatives now live in the United States, sending added funds to better support their loved ones on the farm. Yet coffee remains their anchor—the thread connecting them to their land, their family, and a way of life that endures through change. Alongside coffee, they cultivate a rich array of traditional crops, including peaches, avocados, citrus, several varieties of bananas, and picaya, the edible blossom of the Corozo palm.