Description
Skelet Guys x Finca San Luis
PFP Project: Guatemala | Skelet Guys x Finca San Luis
Milk Chocolate • Peanut Butter • Orange Marmalade
Farm: Finca San Luis; Las Marias Lot
Producer: John Schippers & Family
Altitude: 1300m
Variety: Caturra
Process: Washed
Blockchain Sourcing Transparency: coming soon
“Xoco and the Volcano”
A long time ago in the last days of the mighty Aztec Empire, a group of humble farmers who lived just outside of Tenochtitlan were forced to flee when the conquistadors arrived. Seeking refuge, they journeyed to the southernmost provinces of their empire, modern-day Guatemala. They spent their remaining days in hiding, deep in the jungles along the side of a volcano, longing for their fields and the farm work they once knew so well. Eventually, they passed away, entering the Aztec underworld of Mictlan, where they took on the form of Skelets. For centuries, they tried to grow crops in the underworld, but it never quite satisfied them like their farm work on earth.
One day, Xoco, an adventurous young skelet girl, discovered a secret path that led from Mictlan back to earth. The path emerged at the top of a volcano, and as Xoco stepped out, she looked down to see the lush farm lands of Finca San Luis El Volcancito, a beautiful coffee farm owned by John and Regina Schippers and their daughters Paulina and Daniela.
Since that day, the skelets have visited the farm every night to help with the work. They love growing delicious coffee and helping to lighten the load for the human farm workers. Working the land brings them joy and a sense of purpose in their eternal rest. The Schippers family is grateful for their mysterious but friendly new helpers, who have brought new life to their farm.
And so, Xoco and the skelets continue to work the land, growing coffee to share with all the other Skelets around the world. They have found a new sense of purpose, and their love for the land lives on, even in death.
Coffee Quick Notes:
QUALITY: From its seedling stage in the nursery, to its last drying step, the coffee is cared for with great attention to detail by a coffee farming family whose roots stretch back more than 100 years. The Las Marias lot is a shining example of the care the Schippers family put into their work; an extremely clean and balanced cup with a full body and
PEOPLE: It is an unfortunate reality in the coffee industry that many children end up laboring in the fields alongside their parents. However, at San Luis, there is a core belief in the power of education to effect generational change. That is why in 2014 the Schippers family constructed a primary school on the farm that educates children Pre-K through 6th grade. The school includes a soccer pitch, playground as well as many arts and enrichment programs.
ENVIRONMENT: Nestled in between the Guatemalan mountains, Finca San Luis El Volcancito resides in Pueblo Nuevo Viñas, in the region of Santa Rosa. The farm’s origins date back to 1881. San Luis is graced with extremely fertile land thanks to the farm’s own private volcano. Maintaining this unique soil composition is paramount, so traditional regenerative agriculture techniques are implemented to ensure this rich soil continues to produce incredible crops without the use of harsh synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
Meet the Schippers
Coffee has been running through the veins of the Schippers Family for quite some time. The farmer’s two daughters, are the fourth generation of farmers at Finca San Luis El Volcancito and have now branched off to begin their own, micro export/import business, Dos Ninas Coffee Importers, that keeps the farm’s harvest from being at the mercy of large corporate coffee buyers. Instead, the San Luis crop is distributed primarily to small craft coffee roasters with whom the family has built lasting relationships. The farmer, John, passionately runs the farm and oversees the day to day activities in Guatemala, carefully supervising the cultivation of each plant from seedling through harvest.
