The first thing that hits you while drinking the El Injerto is the full, yet smooth body and crisp acidity. The cup finishes with complex notes of berry, apple and toasted nuts. A very clean aftertaste is the like the cherry on top of this jewel of a coffee.
El Injerto is located in the municipality of La Libertad in the state of Huehuetenango in northwestern Guatemala. The farm has been owned by the Aguirre Family since 1874. Around 1900, the farm began producing coffee and was named El Injerto. “Injerto” is the name of a fruit that is native to the area.
Today, the farm his managed by Arturro Aguirre and his son, Arturro Jr. They are the third and fourth generation of the family to work the land. El Injerto is known here in the U.S. for their high quality coffees. To achieve this, the Aguirre family has decided that they must treat their people well. The family pays more than any other farm in the area because they expect more from their pickers. They only want coffee cherries that are perfectly ripe. If they bring back unripe cherries, they have to take their picking to drying tables and sort out the unripe beans. This practice contributes to the quality flavor of El Injerto's product. El Injerto has been recognized for their quality in the Guatemalan Cup of Excellence Competition – placing first in the country the past 5 years.
El Injerto also does not use any chemical pesticides or fertilizers, they are certified by the Rainforest Alliance for the social and environmental stewardship and they have built a hydroelectric plant that uses their mill water to generate electricity.
The label for our Factory Reserve Coffee from El Injerto depicts the processing mill on the farm. At the end of the day, hundreds of pickers and their families come in from the fields to deposit their days work. The cherries that they have picked are weighed and entered into a ledger for payroll. They are then given a voucher for dinner so that the family can have a hearty meal after a long days work.