The Juan Ana Coffee of San Lucas Toliman is a rich, full-bodied bean, grown by Guatemalan families with the help of the San Lucas Toliman Mission. "For over thirty years the Parish of San Lucas has been helping land-less families purchase and farm their own land," says Fr. Greg Schaffer in their Mission Newsletter. "First land is acquired for food production (the traditional food is corn - for tortillas - black beans and squash). Then families are helped to purchase a small piece for a cash crop. In the San Lucas Toliman area of Guatemala the best cash crop that can be grown is coffee. The high altitude of over 5000 feet, the deep volcanic ash soil and the warm days with cool nights combine for excellent coffee production."
Families painstakingly pick the best beans for seeds and then plants are grown, initially in a shaded nursery or almacigo. The best plants are put in the field and after two or three years the first coffee blossoms bloom.
As soon as the beans are picked the heavy sacks of ripened beans are taken to the beneficio for processing. Hulled and washed beans are spread flat to dry in the sun. Long wooden rakes are used to move the beans for even drying over six to nine days. Next, the hard shell called a cascavillo is spun from the bean. Now, the 600 pounds of coffee picked from one tree is reduced to 100 pounds and ready for roasting. You can see that the families of San Lucas Toliman labor intensely for their coffee crop. They take great pride in the coffee they produce!
When you purchase this delightful coffee, you not only enjoy an aromatic cup of java, you give families in Guatemala the chance to live their lives as proud productive human beings. Right now, they are not marketing on the Internet. But, they ARE distributing in the United States with the help of volunteers. You can contact The San Lucas Mission Office at 1400 6th Street N, New Ulm, MN 56073-2099, (507)359-2966, or write to Ken Huebert at 1529 Oakwood Avenue, New Ulm, MN 56073 to purchase whole or ground San Lucas Coffee by the vacuum-sealed bag at a very reasonable price!
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