Have you considered a coffee tour?
With so much of the world’s coffee coming from Guatemala, if you’ve never visited a coffee farm to learn more about the process, a trip to Antigua offers up the perfect opportunity.
There are several fincas located a relatively short distance from the city which welcome visitors, but the most practical option for most people is to join a coffee tour.
There are a number of different options to choose from, and whilst we didn’t join one ourselves (we’ve travelled Latin America extensively, and have visited quite a few coffee farms over the years), one particular tour would have been at the top of our list…
De La Gente, a social enterprise based in Antigua, is dedicated to empowering small-scale coffee farmers and promoting sustainable practices; their tours provide a unique opportunity to delve into the world of Guatemalan coffee while directly supporting local farmers.
Costing $38 USD per person, they offer an intimate experience with a family-run coffee farm. You’ll learn about the entire process, from cultivation to harvesting, roasting, and brewing. Farmers personally guide you through their plots, sharing insights into traditional techniques and challenges in the industry. The experience ends with a cup of freshly brewed coffee, made using beans you helped roast.
Some tours we’ve been on have felt very transactional, but those run by De Le Gente allow you to gain not just knowledge of coffee making process, but also contribute to community development and fairer wages for farmers. Ideal for those keen on supporting ethical, grassroots initiatives.
They offer morning and afternoon tours, each lasting around 3.5 to 4 hours.
Other Antigua coffee tours to consider are:
Finca La Azotea / The tour of the coffee farm is much shorter than the above at around 60 minutes, but as part of this super popular tour you’ll travel to La Azotea on your own ATV and then visit the Cerro de la Cruz viewpoint on the way back. Alternatively, if you have your own transport, you can visit the farm and join the standalone coffee tour for 50Q.
· Cafe Alegria runs two types of coffee tours – a simple two-hour option that hosts its tasting in the coffee shop or a longer 3-4 hour tour with a tasting in their roaster. Both visit a farm. These tours are quite pricey as compared to others available, but do include lunch at the cafe.
· If you’d like to combine your coffee experience with other activities in the area, you could consider…
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