Melbourne Coffee Merchants: Guatemala Special Feature
Welcome to our next special feature, where we buy direct from a producer and tell their story. This drop we've bought two excellent coffees from Guatemala through Melbourne Coffee Merchants.
"We’re very proud of the relationships we’ve developed at origin, and we feel lucky to have worked with many of the same producers since 2008. Investing in these relationships has allowed us to increase quality potential, and enabled our producing partners to grow sustainably and continue to invest in improving quality. Visiting these producers every year enables us to understand the complexities and local challenges they face, and to find creative and meaningful ways to support them.
We care a lot about supporting our customers – big and small – to help them grow, succeed and prosper. We love being part of a customer’s journey by providing the highest quality green beans and support along the way. Nothing makes us happier than seeing a customer get excited about our coffee offerings, and fall in love with the coffees they’re roasting. We strive to build open and honest relationships with our customers, and to provide exceptional service and support. Ultimately, it’s our relationships, both locally and globally, that bring true meaning to what we do. We feel so lucky to be part of a vibrant and passionate coffee community, and we want to contribute to it in the most positive way we can.
We add value and insight by providing as much traceability as possible on every single coffee we purchase. Wherever we can, we visit each of the producers we work with and develop long-term relationships with them. We share information with our customers about where our beans come from, how they are harvested and processed, and the backgrounds and stories of the people that grow them. We take our role as a link-builder between producers and purveyors seriously. We want to help our customers learn about our coffees and share these stories with their customers, to get everyone as excited about these coffees as we are."
"This coffee comes from Santa Clara Estate, a farm owned and managed by Ricardo Zelaya, whose family has been growing coffee in Antigua for more than 100 years. In Guatemala, the Zelayas are renowned and influential, owning several farms locally. Over the last century they have worked tirelessly to uphold, refine, and elevate the reputation of coffee in Antigua, one of the country’s most celebrated and loved producing regions.
Santa Clara Estate is ninety hectares in size and is located on the fertile southern slopes of slopes of Hunahpú Volcano (also called Agua in Spanish) in the heart of the Antigua Valley. The farm has been owned and managed since 1988 by Ricardo, the fourth generation of the Zelaya family to have produced coffee at Santa Clara. When he took over the reins, only the lowest elevations of Santa Clara were planted with coffee. The highest parcels were for farming corn and beans for consumption, and for the cattle and horses of neighbouring Hacienda Carmona. Ricardo then made the decision to start planting coffee higher up, increasing the farm’s yields. The process has taken years, but today the farm is one of Antigua’s most productive and is well-known for the exceptional quality of its coffee."
Farm - Santa Clara Estate
Farm Owner - Ricardo Zelaya
Origin - Antigua, Sacatepéquez, Guatemala
Altitude - 1,550-1,890 MASL
Roasted by - Legend Coffee Roasters
Roast Date - 03/11/2026
Variety - Bourbon
Process - Washed
Tasting Notes - Plum, Hazelnut praline, Milk Chocolate
"Magarciy is a beautiful farm on the shores of Guatemala’s stunning Lake Atitlán, in the country’s southwestern department of Sololá. The estate is owned by the Ramírez family after being established by patriarch José Ramírez Sr., who grew up in the region and after whom the farm is named.
As a younger man, José worked as a transport driver in Atitlán, receiving the nickname ‘Don García’ from a close friend of his, even though Garcia wasn’t his actual last name. Over the years, as more of the region’s communities got to know José, the nickname changed into the local Tz’utujil Maya language, with ‘Don’ translating to Ma and García morphing into Garciy, or Magarciy.
Today, operations at Magarciy are helmed by José Ramírez Jr., who oversees production of the family’s lots and works with small producers who grow coffee in the towns that surrounded Lake Atitlán. For many years, the family’s impressive wet mill was used by the local CoAtitlán Cooperative, which supported hundreds of local coffee growers. While the association was recently forced to dissolve due to compliance challenges and pricing pressures, the Ramírez have chosen to continue processing their own coffees while still supporting many of Magarciy’s neighbouring small-scale farmers."
Farm - Margaciy
Farm Owner - Ramírez family
Origin - Santiago Atitlán, Sololá, Guatemala
Altitude - 1,600-1,900 MASL
Roasted by - Legend Coffee Roasters
Roast Date - 03/11/2026
Variety - Bourbon, Caturra
Process - Washed
Tasting Notes - Hibiscus, Cherry ripe, Brown sugar
Brew Guidelines
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Espresso - 9 bar Brew ratio - 1:2.3 (dry coffee : espresso liquid) Temp - 94 Deg C Time - 25-30 seconds. *Adjust grind size to achieve the desired time |
Espresso - 6 bar Brew ratio - 1:2.7 (dry coffee : espresso liquid) Temp - 94 Deg C Time - 25-30 seconds. *Adjust grind size to achieve the desired time |
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Pourover Temp - off the boil Ratio - 1:16 (dry coffee:water) Bloom - 30 seconds Flow rate - fast *Adjust grind size to achieve desired flow rate |
Aeropress Temp - off the boil Ratio - 1:16 (dry coffee : water) Bloom - 30 seconds Brew time - 90 seconds (including bloom) Press consistently over 15-20 seconds. |
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Stove top Ratio - 1 - 8.5 (dry coffee : water) |
