Guatemala Los Conejos Natural

Named after the Ordoñez-Montenegro family’s pet rabbits, Los Conejos has been consistently producing award-winning coffee since the land was purchased in 2014. What started out as a Catuai and Bourbon lot now boasts varieties like Pacamara and Gesha. Yes, Gesha. March 2023’s Roaster’s Choice selection is a Guatemala Los Conejos Natural, with notes of huckleberry, cashew butter, and plum. I say this every time, but if you’re not on the Roaster’s Choice bandwagon, you need to be. These coffees are unlike any you’ve ever had before.

“Out with the old, in with the new,” is not a phrase spoken in Los Conejos. Because the lot is sown with coffee plants of varying tenure, the Ordoñez-Montenegro family can experiment with different processing methods. Anaerobic fermentation and carbonic maceration breathe new life into older coffee plants, even though neither employ breathable oxygen. Figure of speech, you know. These alternative processing methods imbue the coffee with distinct flavors they wouldn’t otherwise develop, especially if the plants were out of their prime at the time the Ordoñez-Montenegro family purchased the land those plants were already growing in.

Los Conejos is in Santa Rosa de Lima, Guatemala, which honestly seems like the perfect place to be if you’re a coffee plant. The land is canopied by old-growth pine, cypress, and Encino oak, as well as several fruit trees, with dappled sunlight showering down on the coffee, which sprout from a mix of pillowy volcanic loam and rich compost. Not only does Los Conejos coffee experience 360° perfection, it also grows way up high at 1,625 meters and is irrigated by three ground sources and the nearby Pinula River. Life is good at Los Conejos.