Antigua, Guatemala

Highlights

-For people wanting to get a unique cultural coffee experience and lunch at a traditional Guatemalan families house
-Coffee lovers or haters come out of this experience with their hearts, souls and belly's full of 'La Familia del cafe's experience', 'The coffee family experience' is one filled with smiles and great coffee 
- A great local lunch at a nearby town with amazing coffee growers

Description

This is a traditional Coffee tour and Explanation given by a local family at San Miguel Escobar. We meet Fredy and his family and walk up to his coffee farm in the early morning. We will have an explanation of the process from caring for baby bushes in the nursery to harvesting, roasting and grinding the coffee beans.

Fredy and his family will explain a bit of the difficulty that local farmers have in exporting their product nevertheless making a decent salary for every day life, so they have a great initiative in the town and help out the community by working together. They will also teach how to identify good and bad beans and the hand labour that this process takes before it ends up in our coffee cups!

You will be guided throughout this experience not only by Fredy and his family but also by a general guide to give more insight on this process and experience.
After this explanation we will walk back to Fredy's house to enjoy a traditional lunch made by his family and Doña Thelma herself. This is one of the best traditional meals around the area and Thelma is very well known in the town.
This activity will take place in the early hours of the morning and will go until after lunch, you will be walking around the town and coffee fields so dress accordingly.

The highlight of this experience is understanding more about the coffee industry in this part of the world, getting to know a local coffee farmer and his family, and having a great coffee and meal together in a very traditional home outside of the norm in Antigua.

This is good for coffee lovers, coffee haters, people who don't like coffee end up liking it sometimes and overall people who are interested in the culture.

Who this experience is good for

-People who like an experience in a rural community
-If you are interested in the coffee industry of this part of the world, a very eye opening experience
-Coffee lovers & even Coffee haters love the experience as its not the touristy attraction setting and the lunch is amazing

Meet our local host

Fredy and his family are a Local coffee Farmer initiative from San Miguel Escobar. This is a tailored made experience, different from all the other ordinary coffee tours, we go to a local small farmer, and experience through their eyes they daily struggle of this industry in Guatemala. An amazing eye opening coffee tour with a great family host!

Itinerary

Meet at designated meet point (details on hub event), take the vans to San Miguel Escobar just 20 mins away. Get greeted by Fredy and his family and start the walking tour though a part of this small village to reach the coffee plantation for the in depth explanation and presentation given in english by Fredy's Son, a pioneer in learning english to help his family and community. After this we walk back to Fredy's house in which you will meet Thelma (wife) and family members, who will then show you how we do our daily cup! We enjoy a traditional Guate Style (cowboy coffee, sorry no milk) and then we proceed to have one of the best traditional meals of the region. Thelmas kitchen is so amazing we have also made a cooking tour for you for you to come back and learn to prepare this delicious meal. We enjoy a family setting lunch with Fredy and his amazing family and then head back to Antigua.

What's Included

- Round trip transport from Antigua. 
- Local coffee growers with good english and guide bilingual guide
- Traditional lunch of Pepian, lemonade and coffee
- Small hike to the coffee plantation and detailed explanation from 'La Familia del Cafe'

What's Not Included

- Extra coffee. But you can buy some to support the family.
- Tips for the family, guides drivers and coffee growers.

Know before you go

- You will be visiting a rural town in the outskirts of Antigua, very traditional, and also having lunch in a very rustic home with Fredy and his family
-It could get a little hot as it's a traditional galvanise roof, so dress accordingly
-Most of the family speak very little english so feel free to practice spanish
-If you are shy this is an opportunity to experience a true Guatemalan home we are shy too until we are not a good cultural immersion opportunity
-Minimum to operate: 13 people
-Maximum capacity: 30 people
-Deadline to book: 3 days prior to experience