The Café Miramundo Process

Ancient Craft, Modern Tools
At Finca Miramundo, we have taken the time-honored coffee growing traditions developed over the last century in Guatemala and western Honduras and combined them with modern, ecologically sensible processing techniques. Using methods learned from their forefathers, local “cosecheros” maintain, nurture, and once a year pick the mature fruit from the sinuous rows of mountain coffee.

Human Hands To assure freshness, the ripe “cherries” are carried down the slopes to be weighed and processed the same afternoon they are picked. The beans are separated from the fruit or “pulp” and are twice sorted for quality by experienced eyes and hands. Our “wet-mill” equipment from Ecosistem S.A. of Antigua, Guatemala efficiently separates the first quality beans from those less perfect while minimizing water usage with re-circulating pumps. Nutrient-rich by-products are isolated in composting areas and evaporation ponds to avoid possible contamination of local water supplies.

Caring for young plants in the nursery. Dried ferns serve as shadecloth above.

Depulping & quality selection machinery.

The beans are washed in water from the finca’s own fresh water springs, and, during the latter part of the harvest - March and April - they are spread on clean patios to dry in the heat of the tropical sun. At our high altitude, however, the early part of the harvest (mid-December through January) often occurs in misty, rainy conditions, therefore making patio drying impractical. During this time of year, we employ the tried-and-true “Guardiola” drum dryer. These dryers were first designed by European Guatemalan coffee growers in the late 1800s to evenly reduce the humidity of the beans to correct levels for stable storage.

Drum dryer, Capt. Pat Merritt (rt.), and staff.

An impressive amount of human labor is involved in every step of our process; we craft a great coffee not only with rich soils, high altitudes and proven plant stock, but with experienced noses, hands and eyes.

Committed to Quality
Throughout the entire process from picking to drying, our coffee is handled with the care that assures the roaster a bean of maximum quality. We are certain you will be pleased with our beans and look forward to welcoming you to our coffee farm in the near future.

Café Miramundo On-Line
Our coffee is packaged in a bag with a one-way valve system, allowing you savor the aroma while preserving freshness. Café Miramundo orders may be placed online and bags of our quality beans will be sent directly to you using reliable US transport. Additional gift items, including T-shirts, coffee cups, and baseball caps with the handsome Café Miramundo logo are available as well.

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