Picked strictly at sugar beet-like color, therefore above 25 brix g.´s, cherries are wet milled in mucilage rich partly recycled water, containing a rich concentration of fructose (coffee pulp sugars), and fermenting bacteria, that highly enhance its aroma, and flavor attributes. From the fermentation tanks, where beans await for 28 to 36 hrs. approx. (After bacteria work for you removing mucilage), it is then taken to washing canal to remove all remains of mucilage with the same water it was de-pulped with. About 75 % of that water will be used again in next batch.

Then it is soaked in fresh water from our natural spring, for 2 cycles of 12 hrs., changing it once between said cycles. It is then sun dried at our patios, slowly for 16 days approx., taken detailed care of covering it with shade cloth at high temperature day hours., day in day out. Until it reaches a perfect 10.5% humidity, it is taken to our resting warehouse, which is a ground floor beneath a wooden building, creating a perfect 20°-21° storage climate.

Attributes and notes

Citric sweetness, juicy, slight plum, vanilla. Pronounced notes of caramel, and shiny, creamy, lime-orange, fruits, some wine notes, cookies, well balanced, solid, dense, chocolate, green apple, aliveness. Even some grapefruit.

Named due to its dark brown parchment color, our 26 Brix or above cherries are taken directly from the pulping machine, to the sun drying patios in wheelbarrows, to avoid any naturally remaining fruit pulp and mucilage wash-off, to get a crisp sun bathe, always taking care of not scorching it during high temp hrs. There, using our innovative shade cloth over our sun drying patios, we carefully move it every ½ hr., for 8 days aprox.

Then we take it to our African beds greenhouse, to get slowly dried. All mucilage on the beans, it dries in there for a few days, still absorbing all the fruity sugars, getting on the bean almonds, chocolate, citric, sugary notes, as well as orange, lime, shiny tangerine, and some green apple. Until it reaches a perfect 10.5% humidity, it is taken to our resting warehouse as well, which is a ground floor beneath a wooden building, creating a perfect 20°-21° storage climate.

Attributes and Notes

Almonds, chocolate, citric sweetness, some lime notes. Well achieved preparation.

Named after it´s gold ochre parchment color.

After wet-milling the same superbly picked dark maroon coffee cherries, all beans still with their sweet mucilage on, are moved away with our fermenting recycled water, directly to the sun drying patios, by means of running them through the canals, carefully avoiding to wash it.

Using said water, assures us of not taking sugars and mucilage away. No fermentation is involved, other than what will naturally occur on the parchment skin while getting sun-dried. It will remain there for 18-20 days aprox., taken detailed care of covering it with shade cloth at high temperature day hours., day in day out. Until it reaches a perfect 10.5% humidity.

Then, it is also taken to our resting warehouse, which is a ground floor beneath a wooden building, creating a perfect 20°-21° storage climate.

Attributes and Notes

Caramel, Chocolate, well balanced, sugary, tangerine citric, shiny, notes.

Our ancient bourbon plants, almost typicas, or closer descendants of them than most nowadays bourbon strains, give yield to the extremely careful picked cherries, brought to 25-26 brix degrees, which are then cautiously spread on our sun drying patios for 20 days, being very carefully moved with a palm leaf to not squeeze the juices. Then, cherries are passed to African beds in our green house. In there they will remain for 10 more days, until they reach 10% humidity, being moved every hour.

Attributes and Notes

Fruity, sugar cane, caramel, plum, green apple, liveliness, shiny, juicy, citric sweetness, apricots, pineapple, tropical fruits.

For some of our customers, this is probably the most exciting preparation of all. We allow the cherries to mature to it´s maximum, and then, still on the tree, we let them start to over ripe just to the point where the skin starts to roughen up. Precisely then, cherries are carefully set on the sun drying patio, caressing them with a palm tree leaf every hour, so that no squeezing occurs, for about 15 days. When they are at a date-like stage, we move them to African beds in the greenhouse. In there, they rest for a few more days, until they are dry. This might take another 15 days.

Attributes and Notes

Noticeable raisin notes, fine red wine aroma, plum, raisin, honey, raspberries, blackberries, forest berries, red grapes, chocolate, smooth apricot, silky sweetness.

The farm has been at the family since 1909. Coffee was first established around 1920. Since then, one of Guatemala´s best coffees has been produced in moderate quantities.

We have a highly technified, and yet, very conservative management approach towards the plantation. We use advance tools to monitor and control plant wellness, while at the same time, we purposefully implement strategies to avoid plant stress, such as well managed shade trees, work with native tree species, always focusing on making biodiversity a priority.
We put special attention on quality, by being very conscious on the cherry picking stage. It is our highest priority to have the most mature cherries brought in to our mill, at a strictly monitored dark red wine color, almost purple.

Our farm does not have abundance of water. We depend on 2 small springs, so we are very conscious about it. We recycle about 75% to 80% of depulping water. At disposal, we then let it sit for a while to let all organic matter to decant, and then we use the water on cutting grass pastures to feed cattle, which only purpose is to produce manure. After collecting it (manure), we use it at the earthworm compost installations, and then we apply it to the soil for coffee plants as organic fertilizer.
At the wet mill, we are also very careful, and pay special attention to the fermentation tanks, in order to reach a perfect point. As the coffee gets washed again with recycled water, only a small amount of fresh water is used on the final wash, before going to the sun drying patios.

Once at the patios, we slowly dry the parchment, carefully monitoring surface temperatures, covering it with shade cloth when the sun gets too strong. This prevents scourging, achieving a very nice quality in the cup, with a wide array of flavors and notes.

Hence, we like to think our farm is under a true and most faithful meaning of the sustainable concept.

San Jose Ocaña has been in the family for over 100 years, and has always been a sustainable agricultural operation, which started mainly as a forestry farm management. In time, it evolved to be a fine coffee producing farm, serving only the prime specialty coffee market. This is mainly as result of its high altitude, good clayish soils and varietals.

​Today, some forestry still goes on. All areas that are not exclusively coffee, are forestry, both planted and native forests.

Our Goal

Every coffee bean that comes out of the farm has to have the best quality possible and it has to be produced sustainably. Every board foot of lumber has to have the best quality as well, and be produced through the most sustainable management, and all the legal permits and certifications available.

Our Mission

We produce the best possible coffee quality with the highest sustainability mindset, designed to be able to maintain it in the same way, through the coming years.