Coffee took over Guatemala fast. It made up 1% of exports in 1860 and 92% by 1880, as synthetic dyes killed demand for the country's cochineal.
The boom came at a price. Liberal reforms under Justo Rufino Barrios led to the mass dispossession of indigenous communal land for coffee. An 1877 decree legalised debt peonage and brought back the mandamiento, a labour draft that supplied workers to growers.
Today the national association Anacafé recognises eight coffee regions. Antigua sits in a valley ringed by the volcanoes Agua, Fuego and Acatenango. Huehuetenango is high, dry and non-volcanic, and warm winds from Mexico keep frost away.
What the record says
- Coffee rose from 1% of Guatemala's exports in 1860 to 92% in 1880.1
- Poor cochineal harvests and new aniline dyes, which cut demand for natural dyes, pushed Guatemala toward coffee.1
- Land laws after 1871 led to the mass dispossession of communal indigenous land for coffee.1
- Decree 177 of 1877 legalised debt peonage and reinstated the mandamiento labour draft for export growers.1
- Anacafé, the national coffee association, was founded in 1960.1
- Fuego volcano periodically drops fresh, mineral-rich ash on Antigua's coffee land.2
- Huehuetenango is one of Guatemala's three non-volcanic regions and the highest and driest. Warm, dry winds from Mexico's Tehuantepec plains protect it from frost.2
No source we opened gave harvest months or main varieties. A UN iLibrary case study on the Antigua denomination of origin was found but not opened, so the 'Genuine Antigua' designation is left out. The regional details come from Perfect Daily Grind, a trade blog.
- Coffee production in Guatemala · Wikipedia in the bibliography
- Barista Guide: 8 Different Coffee Regions of Guatemala · Perfect Daily Grind, 2016 in the bibliography
