La Senda – Guatemala

The inception of Finca la Senda, now run by Arnoldo Pérez Melendez and his wife Maria Eugenia Escobar, dates back to the forties, when Arnoldo’s father pioneered the plantation of coffee in the surroundings of the Aldea el Socorro in Acatenango. The Finca extends from the borders of the village up to mount Balàm, the hill of the Jaguar in native language. Coffee is planted at an altitude between 1’550 and 1’970 meters, while nature is taking its own course further up the mountainside, respecting the unique biosphere. Coffee is harvested on an extension of broadly 27 hectares. Arnoldo spent his entire life with coffee, a beloved product that supported his family as well as many families in Aldea el Socorro, given that all of his employees (14 throughout the year, ca. 70 during harvest) are villagers. Over the last decades, Arnoldo’s focus was on farming, with the coffee being delivered to the local cooperative. This long-dated model took an unexpected turn in 2017, with the visit of a specialty coffee trader and a coffee consultant. Their blind-tasting of many of the coffees in the region pointed-out the potential of the finca’s cherries. The subsequent discussion gave the ignition light that motivated Arnoldo to build his own “beneficio”, with constructions initiated in April 2017 and completed over the course of six months, right in time for the start of the harvest. While being late starters, Arnoldo and his family combined their deep knowledge in the agricultural space with best practices in processing, learned and developed with the strong support of his friends and partners. In its first year of own processing, Finca la Senda focused its efforts on consistent cherry selection, long and controlled fermentations as well as slow shadow-drying.