[05] Guatemala - Paya by Nery Pablo [CROP 22/23 ARCHIVE]

Nery Pablo's coffee ran from 16/08/2023 to 20/12/2023.

Nery Pablo has a farm in Concepción Huista, Huehuetenango, a region known for its sweet, clean, and complex coffees that cater to a broad spectrum of tastes. One of our favorite coffee origins, this lot from Finca Paya, perfectly embodies what we were looking to source: a solid example of the extraordinary coffees from Huehue.

Brew Guide:

Best Brewed with: Filter

High grown coffees from Huehuetenango are some of our personal favourites - super sweet, clean cups, jammy acidity and intriguing floral notes. We’re roasting to emphasise the sweetness - 

A classic 60g/litre recipe will work great for filter, and this coffee especially shines on batch brew. For espresso, try 18g in, 40g out in 30-34s

We’re tasting: Caramel sweetness, vanilla cake and strawberry jam, buttery, creamy - almost like a victoria sponge. Hints of florals and white grape lift everything and set this coffee apart.

Traceability:

The Story

Our co-founder, Alex, visited Guatemala in 2019 with Primavera Coffee. During this trip, he was fortunate enough to visit Cooperativa El Sendero, a co-op in Concepción Huista.

We've always loved the profile of high-grown coffee from this region—balanced, sweet cups that offer a little something for everyone: caramels, soft fruits, florals, and sometimes even a hint of tropical character. Lower altitude production tends to exhibit more chocolate and nut flavors intertwined with the soft fruity tones, making this region truly versatile. Overall, if we were to choose a large, satisfying mug of batch brew to kickstart our day from any coffee-producing region worldwide, it would likely be a fresh crop from Huehue.

With that in mind, we've selected this lot from Nery Pablo for precisely that purpose—an elegant yet approachable coffee, perfect for an immensely enjoyable brew. Coffee from producers in Coop El Sendero, located in Concepcion Huista, has always held a special place in our hearts, and we're excited to continue purchasing, roasting, and brewing it. The cooperative, consisting of 196 members, including 62 women and 134 men, places strong emphasis on gender equality and empowering young coffee producers.

Nery Pablo is a dedicated second-generation coffee producer who inherited a parcel of land in 2010. A few years into his journey, he became a member of the El Sendero Cooperative. This affiliation provided him with invaluable marketing opportunities for his coffee, access to workshops, agronomy expertise, as well as microcredit. Consequently, Nery experienced significant enhancements in both the productivity and quality of his coffee.

His farm, named "Paya'"—a term from the Popti Mayan language signifying "Birth of the River"—is aptly named after the mountainous region where a river originates; it's a common farm name in the area.

The family processes their coffee at their house, where they first pulp the freshly picked coffee (using a machine that removes the seeds from the cherry skin). They then employ a slow dry fermentation process, which takes 32 hours due to the cool high-altitude conditions. After fermentation, the coffee is washed and soaked in clean water before being moved to a patio for drying—a process that takes 5-6 sunny days and requires hourly turning to ensure even drying. This meticulous process significantly contributes to the coffee's dense and layered profile. Nery's wife plays a pivotal role in overseeing the processing and drying phases of the production.