Benito Perez is part of the ASDEFLOR association in the township of Chanjón, in the Todos Santos Cuchumatán municipality in the department of Huehuetenango. It’s a very small collective of just 30 members from the Mam Mayan indigenous community. Uniting as a collective and seeking specialty coffee markets has allowed this small group of indigenous farmers to move from subsistence farming and risky border crossings for work to growing coffee full time. The local markets have been hit hard by covid travel restrictions increasing labor costs, but 4 years of selling to Shared Source has secured high prices that continue to make coffee farming viable.

Like everyone else in the association, Benito Perez’s coffee is processed at a communal wet mill, where the fermentations are long and cold, 2-3 days, and done in covered tanks to keep the coffee tasting clean. It’s a stellar example of Huehuetenango coffee, one of our favorite origins: always caramel sweet, with wonderful cherry and watermelon flavors that jump out at you.