Finca Rosma

Producer

Finca Rosma

Finca Rosma is located in San Pedro Necta, high up in Huehuetenango’s Sierra de los Cuchumatanes. It was acquired by Don Alejandro Morales in 1963. His son Fredy renamed the farm Rosma, short for his wife Rose Mary. He built out the infrastructure; a road, a water pipeline, a wet mill. When the third generation, Alejandro and Fredy, took over, they had a clear vision for Finca Rosma. They focused solely on export of specialty coffee (85+). To achieve higher prices, they made Cup of Excellence a priority. They know that the combination of very high altitude (2000 masl), the hot winds from the Mexican plain and the rich soil, could produce an outstanding cup. Initially this process was frustrating, but with every disqualification, they learnt which aspect of farm management or processing to improve. Finally in 2010, they achieved 2nd place with their Gesha. Ever since, they are a recurring top 5 finisher. Winning COE has brought them international recognition and high demand.

One of our staples on Saoko. This classic gesha comes from our longtime collaborator Alejandro at Finca Rosma. On our recent visit we saw firsthand the detail and care that goes into this delicate coffee. Rosma’s gesha has consistently scored top 5 in Guatemala’s Cup of Excellence. Expect a bright and juicy profile with notes of white flowers, green grapes and sage.

This COE award winning gesha is the result of excellent terroir of the Cuchumatanes as well as the meticulous processing carried out by Alejandro.

Finca Rosma counts 16 plots that make up for 30ha. Plots are well separated between varieties. There are Bourbon, H1 and Pacamara plots as well as 5 gesha plots that total 4.5ha. The finca’s wet mill sits on a narrow mountaintop overlooking these plots. Incoming cherries are immediately processed to avoid uncontrolled natural fermentation. They are manually floated in a bassin and then added into a tank. This tank feeds them to a depulper where floaters are again separated. After pulping the coffee is washed in the a channel. Water is limited at Finca Rosma as the nearest fresh water source is 5km away. The water for pulping is recuperated and reused during the day. At the end of the day it’s treated and sent back to the land. The water for washing is constantly refreshed so that coffees taste clean. Finca Rosma is RFA certified. Drying is the big bottleneck for Finca Rosma as they have limited space on the mountaintop facilities. Coffees are first dried on African beds (5-8 days), afterwards they move to the greenhouse for a slow, even drying (another 12 days).