Mayan Tapestry

We haven't yet walked the volcanic slopes of Guatemala's Huehuetenango highlands. But through our partners at the cooperative, we've learned what awaits: morning fog lifting to reveal coffee terraces that have clung to these mountainsides since the Maya first cultivated these lands. The farmers there speak of visitors arriving to find their breath stolen, not by the altitude, but by the ancient beauty of coffee grown where clouds touch earth.

At elevations above 1,800 meters, coffee cherries ripen slowly, developing complexity that lowland beans can only dream of. The co-operative's farmers, many descended from generations who've worked these same plots, still hand-select each cherry, reading ripeness the way their grandmothers taught them. The volcanic soil here gives coffee a distinctive brightness, and the farmers have learned to coax it forward through careful wet processing and patient sun-drying.

In the highlands, coffee isn't just cultivated, it's woven into the fabric of Mayan community life, as essential as the traditional textiles that give this region its visual identity. The cooperative brings together smallholder farmers who might otherwise struggle to reach markets that value their craft. Together, they're preserving growing methods that honor both land and tradition.

This is coffee from a place we're determined to visit, to meet the hands behind these beans, to understand the stories we can only glimpse from afar. Until then, we invite you to taste what the highlands produce, and perhaps begin asking the same questions we're asking: Who grew this? What's their story? This cup is our first introduction to Guatemala. We hope you'll make it yours, too.