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| Coffee dried under the sun has to be moved several times a day. Photo © Knut Eisermann. |
Coffee - A third of the world population drinks it. There are hundreds of different recipes for preparing it. And the taste depends on thousands of little secrets ... some of them you will discover in Los Tarrales, Guatemala, during a coffee tour! The world's coffee drinkers consume 4,500,000 tons of green coffee beans each year. Guatemala is known to produce some of the world's best coffees. In Los Tarrales highland Arabic coffee (Coffea arabica) is cultivated. This kind of coffee is the most aromatic one of the three species which are economically important.
For one pound of coffee beans you need to pluck 2.5 kilograms of coffee cherries. After picking 7 working steps need to be passed to get the coffee beans ready for exportation. In Los Tarrales the coffee is processed to its highest level - ‘oro’ - the green, clean coffee bean. The best time to observe the coffee processing on a tour in Tarrales is November, the main harvest season. But whenever you come to visit us you will see some fruit on the coffee trees. In March occurrs the main blooming, which fills the air with its sweet fragrance.
Los Tarrales is a perfect place in Guatemala to enjoy a coffee tour. This reserve reflects the natural diversity of Guatemala in a small area. In addition to the coffee tour you may visit our ornamental plantation, or explore the pristine forests on the volcano slope. Joining our tours you will support our conservation work for preserving the habitat of the Horned Guan. It is recommended to make a reservation for a coffee tour. Click here to view costs.
In Tarrales coffee is cultivated with low impact. We grow only organic coffee without any chemical treatment. We maintain only shade coffee plantation. This type of coffee cultivation is the most valuable one from the conservationist's viewpoint. It has been shown in several scientific studies that shade coffee plantations are important wintering habitats for neotropical migratory birds.
We re-utilize the organic garbage which accumulates during the process of coffee production. We run a earthworm composting of the pulps, the compost ground we use in our cultivations of ornamental plants.
