About eighteen years ago, Martin Lopez Alvarado was forced to emigrate to the United States, due to difficult economic situations. After being able to earn some money, they were able to purchase a farm already planted with coffee. Five years after that, Martin was able to return to Guatemala and take over the management of the farm, along with their family.

Martin’s farm is named Buena Vista, which gets its name from the high altitudes on the local mountain. Many of the farms in the area are named Buena Vista for the same reason. The lots of coffee that Martin produces are from some of the highest parts of the town, meaning that it is time and labor-intensive to make the trek back and forth to produce coffee. However, Martin says that “the farm and the coffee are important to our family, and every day we feel motivated and excited to go to work with what we are so passionate about.”

Martin’s coffee stands out to us each year we find ourselves tasting coffees from Guatemala, with distinctive and vibrant flavors characteristic of the region. This year, we’re tasting flavors of stonefruit like nectarine that we’ve experienced from Martin’s coffees in the past, along with a signature sweet mandarin orange and an aromatic vanilla quality.