Hacienda Carmona, Guatemala
In Antigua, Guatemala, octogenarian Maria Zelaya grows Bourbon and Typica trees on her 110-hectare farm, Hacienda Carmona, at elevations between 1580 and 1890 meters above sea level. Maria is fiercely dedicated to producing quality coffee and has built a beautiful beneficio. She processes the coffee in the traditional washed manner: depulping the skin of the coffee cherry off before subjecting it to a 24-hour fermentation process to deteriorate any remaining sugars off of the seed, and finally, sun-drying the coffee on patios.
