What Does the Santa Felisa Coffee Farm Grow?

Santa Felisa Estate in Guatemala's Acatenango Valley was founded in 1904 and is run by fourth-generation family members Anabella and Antonio. The coffee farm sits between 1,560 and 1,800 meters, where volcanic soil and a cool microclimate slow cherry maturation. Only cherries with 21 degrees of sweetness are hand-picked, and the estate has consistently placed near the top in COE competitions.

The estate follows eco-friendly farming and lists eight processing methods, including the K72, which combines repeated fermentation with washed and sun-dried steps. Leaf rust cost the farm its organic certification, but ecological practices continued. The coffee trees here produce Red Pacamara Maragogype, a Pacas and Maragogipe cross with citrus, dried tangerine peel, cherry, and sweet persimmon flavors.

Pacamara Maragogipe is a cross between the Pacas and Maragogipe varieties, combining rich flavors with an elegant texture. Guatemala's Santa Felisa Estate, founded in 1904, is located in the Acatenango Valley and is known for its eco-friendly farming methods, eight processing methods, and its insistence on hand-picking cherries with a sweetness of 21 degrees, consistently ranking among the top in COE competitions. The estate weathered the impact of leaf rust, losing its organic certification but still upholding its ecological principles. Its K72 processing method combines repeated fermentation with washed and sun-dried techniques, giving the coffee bright, clean flavors of citrus notes, dried tangerine peel, cherry, and sweet persimmon. Front Street Coffee recommends brewing with a Hario V60, 90°C water, and a three-stage pour to showcase this Red Pacamara Maragogipe's lingering sweetness and smooth mouthfeel.

Front Street Guatemala | Santa Felisa Estate Red Pacamara Maragogipe K72 Kenyan-style Washed Processing Method Flavor?

The Pacamara variety originates from a cross between Pacas and Maragogipe. Pacas is a Bourbon-lineage mutation, while Maragogipe is a Typica-lineage mutation. To combine the strengths of these two excellent variety lines, researchers took the first letters of each name to form the name Pacamara. The entire breeding process took thirty years, and it was not until 1980 that the new variety Pacamara Maragogipe was successfully created. Generally speaking, Pacamara Maragogipe has quite rich flavor layers, outstanding wet aroma, a creamy smooth mouthfeel, elegant acidity, sweet chocolate notes, and understated fruit tones.

Guatemala's renowned coffee estate Santa Felisa was founded in 1904 and is currently managed by fourth-generation family members Anabella and Antonio. The estate is located in the Acatenango Valley, a Maya indigenous area, and Maya indigenous people still work on the estate today. The estate sits at an altitude between 1,560 and 1,800 meters, where the microclimate combined with fertile volcanic soil provides exceptional nutrient conditions for the coffee farm and also encourages the coffee beans to mature slowly, fully absorbing more natural nutrients from the volcanic soil. Santa Felisa Estate promotes eco-friendly farming methods, combining agricultural science with ancestral knowledge and respecting the local ecology and indigenous people. The estate meticulously divides its practices into eight processing methods, combines diverse tree species, tends the farm with organic methods, and insists on picking only coffee cherries with a sweetness of 21 degrees. These careful details give rise to stunning coffee flavors, often placing it among the top in COE competitions. Starting in 2011, the estate began holding its own independent global estate auction, which at the time was the only organic estate auction in the coffee world.

"For quality to be good, people play an important role." For this reason, Santa Felisa cares for and respects every coffee worker on the estate like family. While producing high-quality coffee beans, it spares no effort in ecological protection. After leaf rust ravaged Central America, the estate reflected more deeply on the importance of the environment and the land and their interconnection. The estate is committed to:

--- Reforestation and protecting water sources

--- To protect the soil, the estate uses compost and does not use herbicides,

--- Does not cut down shade trees to make the soil more fertile and protect biodiversity

--- Uses nutrients that do not damage the soil

In 2012, a large-scale outbreak of leaf rust occurred in Central America. Many neighboring estates' coffee trees withered and died in entire batches, but Santa Felisa's trees, thanks to organic care, remained strong and withstood the disease. In 2013, an even stronger leaf rust epidemic struck, reaching the point where spraying chemicals was unavoidable. Nearly no organic estate in Central America was spared, and Santa Felisa Estate reluctantly lost its organic certification.

Santa Felisa Estate currently conducts leaf rust prevention three times a year, two of which use organic substances, while the other unavoidably uses chemical agents. Apart from this, everything remains the same as the farming methods of its original organic-certified estate.

Without organic certification, yet still adhering to long-standing ecological protection methods in cultivating and producing coffee—this is the coffee farmer.

Without fair trade certification, yet still insisting on respecting and caring for all coffee workers and families on the estate, and treating generations of indigenous people well.

Santa Felisa Estate's K72 processing method flow is: after depulping, dry fermentation for 24 hours, add water to stop fermentation, repeat the above process twice to reach 72 hours of fermentation, then soak in water overnight, wash, and then sun-dry. Santa Felisa Estate's Kenyan-style washed processing method is characterized by a lingering throat feel and bright acidity K72 processing method

Flavor: citrus notes, dried tangerine peel, cherry, sweet persimmon, delicate plum acidity, roasted nuts + spices + chocolate, maltose, bright and clean, viscous and smooth, with lingering sweetness.

Product name: FrontStreet Coffee Guatemala Santa Felisa Estate Red Pacamara Maragogipe

Country: Guatemala

Variety: Red Pacamara Maragogipe

Altitude: 1600m

Processing method: K72 processing method

Front Street recommended brewing:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water temperature: 90°C

Grind size: Fuji Royal grinder setting 3.5

Brewing method: water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g coffee, first pour 25g water, bloom for 25s, second pour to 120g water then stop, wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before pouring again, slowly pour until 225g water, extraction time about 2:00

Analysis: A three-stage pour is used to clearly define the coffee's front, middle, and back flavors. Because the V60 has many ribs, drainage is faster, and pausing the pour can help extend the extraction time 　　K72 processing method

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.