88.35

“Passion and Compromise” El Guachipilin has been owned by the Urrutia sisters since 1979 and managed by one of their husbands, Roberto Lopez Parker. They were able to produce more than an exceptional coffee inside the plantation. Located just about 8 kilometers from one of the major archeological locations, El Tazumal, the propriety belonged to Salvador Moran since 1870. Abel Moran inherited the farm from Salvador. Abel gave it to his son Roberto Urrutia, who finally passed it down to his daughters. The word El Guachipilin comes from colonial times, and is the name of a shade tree in coffee . El Guachipilin is a hard wood, light, and easy to work with. Many home remedies are made from the bark also. Roberto got the idea of replacing all the old and damaged trees during the 1980´s. This year alone, he has replaced 6,000 trees, and is planning on replanting 700 shade grown trees in the future. He keeps the farm working with the help of three families of Colonos. The propriety has a high diversity of exotic and national fruits starting with bananas, “zapotes”, apples “manzanas”, “caimitos”, “pitos”, and “jocotes”. During the harvest season, the cherry pickers earn extra money and have their transportation costs absorbed, in order to have the best quality of cherries picked. Half of the workers on the farm are women and heads of families. They are in charge of cherry picking along with some pruning and fertilization. Another interesting aspect about the farm, is that Roberto has built a coffee breeding ground next to the plantation. He wants to ensure the quality of the future trees and is growing only the Bourbón variety. Coffee from El Guachipilin was milled by El Borbollon. Other Characteristics:
Agricultural practices: traditional Rain fall: 1,800 ml per year
Average temperature: 64.4 Fahrenheit Shade: Pepeto Peludo Name of the miller: El Borbollon Average age of the trees: 25-35 years Picking season: during the second week of January and first week of March