NOTES: STRAWBERRIES AND TANGERINE, COCOA NIB AND JASMINE FLOWERS WITH A JUICY SWEET TART ACIDITY

Jorge Vides, patriarch of the Vides58 family-owned exporter, purchased his first coffee farm, Finca La Bolsa, in 1958. FInca La Bolsa shares a border with Finca El Sarral, the Vides58 farm where this coffee was cultivated.

Jorge was the kind of man who poured his heart into everything he did. In addition to cultivating coffee, Jorge also worked fulltime as a physician. In the beginning, he saw patients Mondays through Fridays and worked on the farm during all other hours. He later became director of the National Hospital of Huehuetenango, which still bears his name today.

In addition to producing coffee and saving lives through medicine, Jorge founded a school on the farm in 1980. The school, authorized by the National Ministry for Education, is still educating young people in the community today.

In 2001, Jorge and his children and grandchildren decided to transition the farm towards entirely growing specialty coffee. In 2002, coffee from Vides58 won 2^nd place in the Guatemalan Cup of Excellence.

Vides58 also established a joint program with Association Coffee Care, an organization dedicated to reducing instances of child labor by offering educational and recreational programs to children aged 2 to 14.

Today, Vides58 is as family-owned as ever. They managed several farms, including Finca La Bolsa and Finca El Sarral.

Huehuetenango is well-known for its high altitude and consistent weather patterns. The region lies at a nexus of hot air sweeping eastwards from the Plains of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico and cool air rushing down from the Cuchumantanes Mountains. The meeting of this hot and cold air creates a microclimate that keeps frost in check and enables coffee cultivation at higher altitudes: coffee production at 2,000 meters above sea level is common. These conditions are perfect for producing the sparkling acidity and distinctive fruit flavors of the region.