Feature Espresso: Los Nisperos by Sotero Cano | Guatemala

More about Los Nisperos & Sotero Cano:

This single farm lot was produced by Sotero Cano and family at their farm Los Nisperos located near the town San Antonio Huista in the Hueuetenango highlands region. Sotero is an experienced coffee grower, and lives and works on the farm with his wife and three sons. Sotero has owned his land for decades, but he didn’t always farm coffee there. It was around 30 years ago that the family heard that coffee was a profitable crop and they started growing seedlings little by little. Apart from Nisperos they now also have a few other small parcels of land nearby dedicated to coffee farming. Sotero feels confident about the future of coffee for those who are willing to continue learning and innovating.

The farm is named after the fruit tree - nispero - that grows around the farm, providing shade to the coffee trees as well as food for many local birds. There are many of them on the farm, forming a lush canopy to protect the coffee trees from the elements and allow slow maturation.

Similarly to many small producers in the area, at Nisperos many organic farming methods are employed. Coffee pulp is turned into organic compost which is then used as a fertiliser and false banana trees are planted amidst coffee trees to provide potassium for the soil.

During harvest time, cherries are selectively picked and de-pulped on the same day of harvesting and fermented for approximately 48 hours (depending on the weather conditions). Once fermented, the coffee in parchment is washed with clean water and sun-dried on patios.

Los Nisperos has been one of the longest returning coffees since the beginning of Curve and this year marks the 7th seasons of it featuring on our offering. It is tasting as delicious as ever and we are super excited to share it with you once again!

About Primavera Coffee - our sourcing partner in Guatemala:

As with all of our coffee from Guatemala this lot has been sourced with the help of our friends from Primavera Coffee. Primavera are a Guatemala based exporter as well as an importer here in the UK. Headed up by Nadine Rash Primavera Coffee are a company built on values of quality, transparency and sustainability. Having operations in Guatemala, Primavera are not only able to work directly with small producers and cooperative, they also employ local agronomists who are able to provide vital support in the fields such as technical advice on farming, fermentation and post-harvest processing practices.

Always striving to optimise value for producers, Primavera operates with fair margins to cover their costs and logistics. As they explain: “Sourcing directly from the coffee growers shortens the supply chain, allowing us to give them more of the financial benefits for their coffee. Not only is the price fairer for the producer, this form of direct trade allows farmers to be recognized for superior quality, efforts and enthusiasm.”

You can download and read their sustainability report using this link.