A Tale of My Coffee Farm Tour Experience in Antigua With De La Gente
Guest post by Byeongje Yun
Mr. Juan Carlos walking through his coffee fields
During my time in Antigua Guatemala, my wife made a reservation for myself to go on a coffee farm tour. I took a van ride from Antigua for about 15 minutes and arrived at a home in a narrow alley in a mountainous village named San Miguel Escobar right below the Agua volcano.
There, I met Mr. Juan Carlos, the coffee farm owner, and his son Luis. We exchanged greetings, and they gave us a brief overview of the tour schedule. Right from the beginning, I felt that this was not something done casually. When Mr. Juan Carlos explained things in Spanish, his son translated it into English for me, and when I responded, his son translated it back into Spanish for his father. We had conversations like this until the end of the tour.
Mr. Juan Carlos invited us to go on his pick up truck that would take us to his coffee farm at the base of Agua volcano. Luis and I hopped at the back watching the volcanic eruption and listening to various stories about the trees we passed on the way up the mountain. The steep grade of the unpaved road worried me more about the way back. There were other local farmers walking up the mountain, and some even leading horses or donkeys.
When we arrived at the field, Mr. Juan Carlos and Luis began to explain everything about coffee in great detail. They showed us how coffee sprouts from the beans, how roots develop, and the differences between Arabica and Catuai coffee beans, the physiology of coffee beans, cultivation, harvesting, peaberries, and more.
It was such a meticulous guide that it felt like they took great care into tending the field. They even asked me to try some unripe fruits [jocotes] they had picked from the trees. I tried one, and it was bitter, so I spat it out. But the aftertaste was surprisingly good, so I kept eating them. When they ripen completely, they turn yellow and red, and they are supposed to be very sweet.
Even though it wasn't the harvest season, they asked me to pick some coffee cherries that had ripened prematurely due to their nature. I smelled them, tasted them, chewed them, and did everything I could. The last picture is of a Bourbon tree planted by Luis's grandfather, which he said was over 100 years old. He told me it's the biggest Bourbon tree on their farm.
We got back on the pick up truck and headed back home where they explained the entire process of washing and processing the coffee in great detail, but I could hardly understand it. I think it's because it's a specialized field. Anyway, I heard terms like honey, washed, natural, etc.
And... as you can see from the photos... I had the chance to experience direct-fire roasting and stone grinding that you can only see and taste at a real coffee farm. At first, I was wondering what they were doing, but when Cristina, Mr. Juan Carlo’s wife started roasting, and showed me the stone covered with cloth, I couldn't help but get excited.
They asked me to try roasting and grinding, which was a truly unexpected experience. And the coffee they gave me... you know? I can't describe it in words.
I had lunch with them because my wife had made an additional reservation for lunch. There might have been an extra charge, $10 maybe? The food was absolutely delicious. Cristina was a cooking expert who also runs cooking classes. She mentioned that some Koreans had come for a cooking class a few days ago.
I was so grateful to my wife for booking the tour, so I introduced Mr. Juan Carlos and his son to her via FaceTime and expressed my gratitude. Coincidentally, my wife was in downtown Chicago, so she was able to show them around there as well. I also received a bag of coffee beans as a gift. I think I enjoyed it much more than what I paid for, so I bought one more bag of beans.
As you can see from the photos, It seemed like the whole family was working together to run the coffee farm.
DLG has hosted coffee tours for more than 1,200 people this year, and it seems that different farmers take turns leading the tours if you apply. So, you can visit a coffee farm other than Mr. Juan Carlos'.
If someone asks me if Antigua is worth it, I would say that all the struggles and hardships I went through to get here from Guatemala City were definitely worth it, and I would gladly go through it again to visit this place.
About the Author
My name is Byeongje Yun, I'm a coffee lover and an explorer looking for delicious coffee everywhere I go. I'm a lucky man to have experienced the most delicious coffee in Antigua.