Guatemala - Relámpago (2025)

Visit the charming city of Antigua Guatemala and you'll quickly learn to identify the three volcanoes that encircle the old colonial capital. Fuego is the most dramatic, with small eruptions of smoke and ash nearly every fifteen minutes - dusting its less active neighbor, Acatenango. The third, Agua, looms quiet but impressive over Antigua's cobblestone streets. Here, almost halfway up its slopes, you will find Finca Relámpago.

The farm was originally owned by Don Rafael, who sold it in 2024 to Los Volcanes Coffee, our sourcing partners in Guatemala. Now it operates under the thoughtful guidance of Josué Morales and Los Volcanes' Farm Manager, Loyren Orozco.

The name Relámpago is Spanish for "thunderbolt" or "lightning," drawing inspiration from the story of Pegasus, the winged-horse sired by Zeus and said to have gifted light and fire to humankind. Each morning sunlight ascends Agua just as Pegasus climbed Mount Olympus. As the team at Los Volcanes shares, "Relámpago is more than a name - it is a symbol of light, elevation, and transformation."

This level of intentionality can be seen in everything that Los Volcanes does, from the exact angles of light and shade that fall upon the coffee plants to the organization of their drying patios to the precise color palette used on everything from company letterhead to the makeshift insect traps used across their farms.

This lot is primarily bourbon, cultivated at about 1,600 meters under the shade of gravilea and avocado trees. Harvest runs from December to March, requiring about a dozen staff for the 2 hectare farm - though finding sufficient labor during the harvest season has been a major challenge recently. Once coffee has been collected, it is transported to Beneficio La Esperanza in Antigua for processing, where it is depulped, fermented, washed, and meticulously patio dried.

Though located outside of the city of Antigua Guatemala, this farm would still be considered part of the broader Antigua coffee region - famous for its quality and flavor profile, which tends to be sweet and chocolatey, but well-structured. We think this coffee is an excellent example - grown and processed with the highest attention to detail, but familiar and approachable in the cup. We're excited to see what the team at Los Volcanes has in store for Relámpago, but equally thrilled to offer another exceptional coffee from such excellent producers.