Guatemala – De La Gente is a Heartfelt Coffee Plantation near Antigua, Guatemala
Though I’ve done it before in Peru and Costa Rica, I jumped at the chance to do another coffee plantation tour in Guatemala. I was particularly excited because every time I see pounds of coffee at the grocery store or the origins at Starbucks, Guatemala is nearly always one of the options. This time we settled on the De La Gente Coffee Plantation tour, which has a reputation for being smaller, home-grown, and more meaningful. I am so glad we chose De La Gente! We were able to talk with the farmer (through an interpreter) to truly learn what it is like to have a coffee farm. We also roasted, ground, and drank coffee in a private home. It was a delight to experience and I felt particularly good about buying coffee directly from the farmer that I spent the last few hours with.
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Meeting the Farmer, Walking to the Field
To begin the tour, you meet up with the De La Gente folks in the nearby town at the Plaza San Miguel Escobar. This little town is a full 15 to 20 minutes from Antigua toward the Aguas Volcano. We took an uber and it cost us less than $3 to get through the bumpy streets of Antigua to the plaza. We decided to do the morning slot for 9 am and arrived about 5 minutes late. This ended up not being an issue as the two other people on our tour rode a chicken bus, which broke down and was even later. While we waited for the other people, our interpreter, Axel, introduced himself and then the farmer we would be hearing from, Manuel. Once the two fellow tour-goers arrived, we began to walk to the fields.
The coffee plantation fields are about 15 minutes away from the plaza with a couple of blocks in the town and a bit farther up a dirt road hill. The plantation is right off of the dirt road and you will almost immediately see coffee plants. Manuel pointed out baby coffee plants and spoke about how they start to grow saplings at a different location for three years before proper planting. As we got further into the coffee plantation, Manuel would stop us every now and then to point out different aspects of the coffee plant. Because he was part of a cooperative, these were not his fields. Manuel fields were high up on the hillside another hour walk. There were palm-like plants to demarcate the different fields, which we learned are hard to cut down and take very little water.
We kept walking slowly along a path with Manuel telling us different things through Axel toward a particularly beautiful field. This field had regular rows with all of the plants about armpit high. We stopped at this field for quite a while.
At a Glance:
- Rating: 4 (out of 4) stars, would do it again in a heartbeat
- Intensity: Casual clothes
- Location: Just outside Antigua
- Cost: $28/per person
- Restrooms: in a private home before the tour and at the end
- Timing: 3 hours
Highlights:
- Learn about the De La Gente Coffee Cooperative
- Talk with one of the farmers of the cooperative, buy directly from this farmer
- Learn the coffee-making process
- Drink coffee
- One pound of coffee included in the price of the tour
Coffee Growing in the Field
In the beautiful field, Manuel went in-depth on what it takes to start and maintain a coffee plantation. Let me tell you, it is not for the faint of heart. It is in the long run that you see the result of your labor, kind of like anything very important. A couple things that stood out to me were that the cooperative works together during the harvest season. They employ family members and everyone from town to help pick the ripened coffee berries. In the non-harvesting season or in the downtime when the plants are still growing, the farmers plant other crops like beans and corn. The last fun fact I have about De La Gente is that there is no irrigated water – they only use natural rain.
Since our group was only four people, we simply asked questions as they came to mind instead of waiting for a pause in the explanation. Manuel was extremely thorough and patient with our questions. He also didn’t mind if we walked a few feet away to inspect the plants/berries or take photos. Kelly and I asked for additional time in the fields to take photos before heading down.
Unfortunately, because we got a late start, we ended up skipping over the processing section. Manuel did explain it to us later, but we were unable to see the equipment used to wash, ferment, and dry the coffee beans. Instead, Manuel showed us what the coffee beans look like at each stage during the process. Manuel told that the farmers share the equipment.
Roasting, Grinding and Drinking Coffee
After we made our way down the hill we climbed, we made our way inside a private home. This is where we met Malia (spelling?), Manuel’s mother-in-law. She showed us the stove that she roasts the coffee for the family. There are coffee roasting machines that the farmers use for the bulk roasting. We each got a chance at stirring the roasting coffee. It smelled amazing.
After roasting, Malia showed us how to grind coffee on what looks like a flat mortar and pestle. She would add a spoonful of coffee at a time and use the pestle like a rolling pin to smash the coffee. It was more of a swiping method than rolling though. We each got to take a turn at grinding the coffee. I gotta say, it was a much more even grind than my coffee grinder at home! Malia then added our coffee to a large pot of boiling water. She then strained the coffee into cups for us to drink. It was boiling hot, but when it cooled down, I found it to be great coffee without any sugar or cream needed.
While we sipped our coffee, we received our pound of coffee included with the price, and bought more coffee for the family back home. Manuel and Axel told us not to put in the freezer because it dries out the coffee beans…. But since I am not yet ready to consume the coffee, I put it in a ziplock baggie and put it in the freezer. Sorry Manuel, I promise to enjoy it soon!
Pack this for Guatemala!
The Feel Good Moments
Although this tour felt very similar to the other coffee tours I’ve been on (check out my coffee post from Costa Rica and another one from Peru), there were a few feel-good moments that made this stand out. First, I liked how the farmers utilize family and the members of the town, instead of outsourcing to neighboring countries. Second, I have to give a shoutout to Axel, who was our interpreter. Not only did he do a good job at translating, but he also regularly repeated things to Manuel or to us when we were having a casual conversation to have everyone included in the conversation. This went a long way to making it easier to chat with Manuel. Bravo.
Also, there is a competition each year amongst the cooperative farmers and possibly even more farmers for the best coffee. Manuel was so proud to show us that he won last year and came in top ten this year. It was heartwarming to see him take pride in his coffee.
If you’re interested in buying coffee from De La Gente, you can! Just head over to their website.
Overall Thoughts: De La Gente Coffee Plantation Tour
I was very excited to try Guatemalan coffee in Guatemala and it did not disappoint! There were options to go a couple other larger coffee producers or processors near Antigua, but I am very happy we chose to go with the smaller De La Gente. In general, it felt like real people growing and creating coffee instead of workers earning a small wage on someone else’s land.
Have you gone to any coffee plantations like this? Let me know in the comments below so I can check them out during my future travels! Even though this is the third one, I cannot wait to go to more!
Happy Travels,
Hanna
