Overview

For the Mendez family, the coffee adventure started in 2003 when they begun a tourist project called Alicante Hotel in the area called “Ruta de las Flores” (The Flower Route). They studied all the possibilities that the Apaneca-Ilamatepec Mountain range had to offer and driven by the excellent quality of this area decided to buy a coffee farm. They found that there were some almost neglected farms with a lot of potential, so they bought one. They were looking for something that could both produce good coffee and also attract ecotourism. The general idea was to be able to take their hotel guests to learn about the area’s coffee culture and ecosystem.

The Mendez family has been working very close to improve this land, they work with “Los Arcos” community teaching them how to preserve the natural resources, as they have natural water springs, which are part of the habitat for numerous species of animals like pocket gopher, armadillos, snakes and migratory and local birds like the famous oriole with their hanging nests. Another interesting fact is that within this farm, close to one of the watersheds there’s a mountain cave with a statue of the virgin Mary, and some of the locals say that if you pray at this spot, she will surely answer, for many miracles have been attributed to her intercession.

Carlos Alfredo’s son, Eduardo is the one in charge of the farm, and one of his multiple projects for this year is to plant 16,000 Pacamara coffee trees, for which he already prepared a nursery. His main objective is to diversify the farm’s coffee plantation with new high quality varieties and to establish long term relationships with specialty coffee buyers.

Additional information:
Coffee varieties: Bourbon
Type of Shade: Ingas: pepeto, cuje, and frutal, etc.
Average Annual Rainfall: 3,000 mm
Average Temperature: 17º C
Type of Soil: Clayish loam
Annual Production: (60kg) 268 bags
Mill and company where lot was process: Cooperativa Los Ausoles de R.L.
Other crops: Mango, Orange and Aguacate trees
Fauna: pocket gopher, orioles, sparrows, squirrel, armadillos, etc.

GPS Coordinates:
Latitude: 13º 50’ 14.3” N
Longitude: 89º 51’ 36.7” W