A Rundown of Guatemala’s Coffee Regions

Guatemala is famous for producing some of the best coffee beans in the world. Here is your guide to the different coffee-growing regions in the country.

There are eight main growing regions you will want to get to know. Perhaps the most accessible are Antigua and Acatenango, both within easy reach of the colonial town of Antigua. You can visit coffee plantations known as fincas and see how the beans are grown and processed in rich volcanic soils.

Another top region is Atitlan, which surrounds the famous lake of the same name, and Fraijanes, found near Guatemala City. The central region of Coban is perhaps the best-known historical coffee region, home to large fincas developed by German immigrants in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Further afield, the northern region of Huehuetenango sits on the border with Mexico in the west of the country at an altitude of around 2,000 meters above sea level, but the coffee is protected from frost by warm winds.

Another far-flung province, San Marcos, is the hottest and wettest in the country. It’s an isolated area where smallholders are more common than large farms.

Finally, the eastern province of Nuevo Oriente is worth a mention. The verdant hills of the area bordering El Salvador have seen a move toward large plantations in recent years.