With knowledgeable espresso growers, barista champs, and Cup of Excellence winners operating the espresso bars, you’re positive to discover a particular brew right here.

BY JORDAN BUCHANAN
SPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE

Featured picture by Juan Francisco

Capital cities in Central America typically get handed over by backpackers and vacationers; governments typically direct tourism funding into the extra “pure” wonders of nations’ territories. However in Guatemala Metropolis, espresso professionals have developed a specialty-coffee scene that could be a should for any customer. Town has a fame for pleasant interactions with locals and welcoming cafés, together with serving some unimaginable regionally produced espresso. Guatemala Metropolis’s specialty cafés are led by a few of the most educated individuals within the espresso commerce, from the farm to the entrance counter.

Teco Espresso Home

Teco’s Miguel Donis has been operating this retailer since March 2019. In 2021, Salomé Puentas joined him within the challenge, complementing his information and expertise along with her personal wealth of expertise from working within the Colombian espresso commerce. The married couple has transformed what began out as a quaint shopper house into an epicenter of Guatemalan specialty espresso, with a roaster and laboratory connected to the café. Miguel can also be the two-time winner of the Guatemalan Barista Championship, passing that refined information onto his workers with every drink he prepares behind the bar. This café is a hub for all the pieces you could find out about specialty espresso within the nation, and right here you’ll be able to discover that world by your senses. If Guatemala Metropolis is unmissable for its café scene, then this café is the unmissable establishment inside that scene.

Manos Espresso

Twin brothers (therefore the identify, quick for Hermanos) Pedro and Pablo Barrios opened this café in July 2019. They each have detailed perception into the Guatemalan espresso commerce and are meticulous of their espresso work. They’ve traveled as espresso judges round Latin America, and achieved the coveted Cup of Excellence in 2024. That high quality of judgment helps them in providing high-quality espresso on this espresso nook within the metropolis. Owing to its intimacy, you’ll be able to have a deep dialog with the homeowners and baristas whereas connecting with different clients over the marvels of Guatemala’s espresso sphere.

Household Bonds

Cayalá is a suburb of the Guatemalan capital, and there you’ll discover Household Bonds, the coffee-shop line of a household that has been within the espresso trade for greater than a century. The household has its personal farm, and you could find that espresso right here alongside different origins. William Perez Hidalgo and Letty Anzueto, third-generation espresso farmers, began this challenge in Could 2017 in affiliation with Korean espresso large Espresso Libre, and so they stay shut allies. This café is exclusive for its location, but additionally for its mixing of contemporary air and open house along with your favourite brewing methodology.

Rojo Cerezo

Positioned within the full of life Zona 4, this espresso store is small in measurement however large on ardour, and was one of many first specialty retailers opened within the space. Since 2013, proprietor Rogelio Dávila has enthusiastically devoted himself to this roastery-café, serving Guatemalan coffees within the hopes that locals would embrace them. And it has been successful. The espresso at Rojo Cerezo boasts that complicated connection of the private, emotional, and sensational of the Guatemalan specialty espresso world. 

“I’ve at all times favored the concept of espresso,“ Rogelio informed NPR in a 2017 interview. “I consider that the idea of espresso is not only attempting a cup of espresso, however the entire ambiance.“

Entre Volcanes

The Cabrera household has labored within the espresso trade for greater than 130 years as producers, exporters, and now in espresso retailers. Adrián is the sixth era of his household working in espresso and has taken the lead position on this espresso store since its opening in November 2021. He has at all times seen espresso farms as a spot of enjoyable to spend time with household. Entre Volcanes emits that sensation: a inexperienced place of heat for enjoyable and high quality time with individuals who matter to us. It seems like being in a big greenhouse, with vegetation all over the place and numerous open house that enhances your coffee-tasting expertise.

Paradigma

The espresso at this roastery and café is commensurate with the fame and accolades of its proprietor: Raúl Rodas, a four-time Guatemalan Barista Champion, and winner of the 2012 World Barista Championship. Since then, he has been working in all strains of the espresso world, and Paradigma Café was his café challenge that helped encourage the rise of specialty-coffee retailers within the nation.

Sadly, the unique location closed in 2020 in the course of the pandemic. Nevertheless, Raúl has continued to roast and promote espresso as Paradigma Roasters. In 2022, he relaunched the coffee-shop challenge with a brand new idea of café kiosks in business facilities. Now you can savor the second of visiting the eminent specialty-coffee determine’s store as soon as once more. And one other “as soon as once more“: Raúl is again competing, and gained the Brewers Cup in Guatemala in 2024. His ardour and information for espresso by no means drops in high quality, and you may get a style of it at Paradigma.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jordan Buchanan (he/they) is finishing their Ph.D. in Latin American historical past at UC San Diego. Their analysis focuses on the expansion of specialty-café cultures in producer nations in Latin America. Jordan grew up in Scotland and at present lives between there and Mexico when not doing doctoral work in San Diego. After buying their first AeroPress, Jordan has been an avid specialty-coffee fanatic, which has added a brand new perspective to their lust for journey and exploration. 

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