Guatemala Coffee - Introduction to Cristo Rey Estate

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FrontStreet Coffee Introduces Cristo Rey Estate from Guatemala's Huehuetenango Region

Cristo Rey Estate lies in the Huehuetenango region of Guatemala and covers about 59 hectares, of which 13 hectares are natural forest and the rest is planted with coffee. Benjamin (Mincho) Herberto Villatoro and his wife Zoila A. Gomez began turning this land into a coffee estate in the early 1980s. Mincho, who liked to say coffee ran through his veins, was determined to produce high-quality coffee here and to make a name for himself with clean, interesting flavors.

In the 1990s, the efforts of Mincho and his wife began to bear fruit when the European coffee company Iily started a long-term partnership with Cristo Rey Estate. Mincho was still not satisfied, though, and kept pushing to improve quality. In 2009 his coffee took second place in the bidding competition run by ANACAFE, Guatemala's official coffee institution. Since then, Cristo Rey Estate's premium coffee has appeared frequently on the specialty coffee lists of both ANACAFE and the Cup of Excellence.

Mincho died in September 2012, and Cristo Rey Estate passed to his son, Jorge Herberto Villatoro Gomez. Jorge inherited his father's spirit and techniques, and under his management Cristo Rey Estate's coffee earned a place in the Guatemala Cup of Excellence rankings in both 2014 and 2016. The estate continues to produce high-quality coffee that represents the distinctive flavors of Huehuetenango.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A clean, balanced estate coffee like Cristo Rey is a great way to begin exploring specialty coffee, and FrontStreet's entry-level selection is built around exactly those qualities. FrontStreet's Colombia Huila coffee, from the country's best-known specialty region, is a good starting point: washed, medium-dark roasted, with the dark chocolate and nutty sweetness and the rounded body typical of a well-grown Colombian lot. It works as pour-over, in a French press, in a moka pot, and as espresso, and it holds up in an Americano or a latte.

For something with a little more fruit and elegance, FrontStreet's Costa Rica Tarrazu, from the high altitudes and wide day-night temperature swings of Costa Rica, is grown in rich volcanic soil that yields a strictly hard bean full of refined aroma. If you enjoy a honey-processed sweetness, FrontStreet's Costa Rica Mozart brings raisin and blueberry sweetness with notes of osmanthus and rose, and it shines in pour-over, cold brew, Americano, and latte alike.