Guatemala Santa Clara Filter

Tasting notes: Williams pear, orange, and vanilla shortbread cream.

Coffee breakdown:
Origin: Agua, Antigua Valley, Guatemala
Variety: Bourbon
Process: Washed
Producer: Ricardo Zelaya
Altitude: 1800 m

That Santa Clara Magic: Santa Clara Estate is a 90-hectare coffee farm nestled on the lush southern slopes of Hunahpu Volcano (known locally as Agua) in Antigua Valley. It’s owned and run by Ricardo Zelaya, a fourth-generation coffee farmer from one of Antigua’s most influential families.

The Zelaya family has been growing coffee in Antigua for over a century, shaping the region’s reputation as one of Guatemala’s most celebrated coffee origins. When Ricardo took charge in 1988, only the lower parts of the farm grew coffee--the higher plots grew corn, beans, and livestock. Ricardo changed that, planting coffee higher up, steadily transforming Santa Clara into one of Antigua’s most respected farms.

Ricardo is busy and agile!: Ricardo is known for his meticulous, forward-thinking approach to farming. He manages Santa Clara, Hacienda Carmona, and Puerta Verde in Antigua, as well as another farm, Carrizal, in the New Oriente region.

Variety selection is a big focus for Ricardo. While the region's common Bourbon and Caturra varieties make up most of the farm’s production, he also grows Gesha, Pacas, Pacamara, Villa Sarchi, and San Francisco, creating unique and diverse microlots.

Efficient and sustainable: Antigua can be quite dry, so Ricardo invests heavily in plant care and irrigation. After experimenting with different systems, he found drip irrigation to be the most efficient and sustainable way to keep the farm thriving with efficient water use (keeping in mind he needs water for processing!).

Ricardo has preserved twenty-five hectares of Santa Clara as a natural reserve, taking advantage of supportive biodiversity, with all coffee under shade--optimising water use, protecting plants, keeping soil healthy, and protecting habitats for birds and insects.

Ricardo's efficiency and sustainability model also extends to onsite milling, where coffee pulp is composted into organic fertiliser, water is filtered through sedimentation tanks before being returned to rivers, and dry mill parchment is reused as fuel, reducing reliance on firewood and fossil fuels.

Coffee is people: Santa Clara employs about 70 permanent staff year-round and hires an additional 250–350 seasonal workers during harvest. Ricardo knows how vital they are: “80% of the cost of coffee is labour--you need to depend on a lot of people. If your people are earning a good salary, if they have good conditions and if they’re happy, then they’ll do a better job, and with more will.”

A testament to his values and vision, many of his staff have been with him for decades, with some families working with the Zelayas for generations. Marcos Rompiche, the farm’s administrator, has been with the family for over 20 years and is the third generation of his family to work the land. Another is Ruben Gonzalez, who oversees production. He's been with the Zelaya family for more than two decades. Talk about practising what you preach!

Antigua: The Antigua Valley is framed by three volcanoes--Hunahpú (Agua), Chi Q aq (Fuego, the only one still active), and Acatenango. When Fuego erupts, it can temporarily disrupt the harvest, but the volcanic ash enriches the soil with minerals and helps it retain moisture, offsetting the region’s lower rainfall.

Washed at Santa Clara: First up, the coffee cherries are pulped, then fermented for 14–22 hours in tiled tanks. After fermentation, the beans are washed clean and dried first on patios, then on raised beds under a greenhouse-style canopy. This setup allows airflow and temperature to be adjusted for slow, even drying.

Once dried, the beans rest in parchment until export.

Fully closed loop: Ricardo even has an on-site cupping lab, run by Flor Ventura, a graduate of the Santa Clara Scholarship Fund and Coffee High School. She and the QC team roast and cup every lot, ensuring quality and guiding improvements year after year.