Over a century ago, before he ever planted his first coffee bean, Don Francisco Ocheita searched Guatemala for the ideal place to grow coffee. He dreamed of a coffee that would be considered among the very best.
His search brought him to the foothills of the Santiaguito volcano, in western Guatemala. There he found the volcanic soil, the shade and the climate he was looking for, and founded what we know today as Culpan. Five generations later, that same pursuit of excellence lives on in every bean.
In the early 1900s, Don Francisco found on the slopes of the Santiaguito the volcanic soil, the natural shade and the climate he had searched for. He named the place Culpan and devoted his life to growing the finest bean, through long days and long harvest seasons.
In the 1940s, Roberto Toledo, Don Francisco's nephew, took on the family quest. Self-taught and passionate, he learned all he could about growing and processing coffee until he became a recognised expert across the region. "Patience makes the coffee," he would say. While others cut corners, he took the time to know his coffee.
After Don Roberto passed away in 2008, his daughters and grandsons continued the tradition, following his philosophy at every step of the process. That fifth generation of care goes into every bag of Culpan coffee today, honouring the legacy with a global vision.
Patience makes the coffee.
Roberto Toledo
Culpan was founded in the early 1900s by Don Francisco Ocheita, who travelled across Guatemala in search of the ideal place to grow high-altitude coffee. He found it on the foothills of the Santiaguito volcano, in western Guatemala, where volcanic soil, natural shade and a cool, humid climate came together.
The founder was Don Francisco Ocheita, a man who dreamed of producing one of the world's finest coffees. After a long search across the country, he chose the slopes of the Santiaguito volcano and devoted his life to growing the finest bean, laying the foundations for five generations of coffee.
Roberto Toledo was Don Francisco's nephew and took over the farm in the 1940s. Self-taught and passionate, he became a recognised expert across the region for the care he put into growing and processing coffee. He passed away in 2008, leaving the phrase "Patience makes the coffee" as his legacy.
Five generations of the same family have grown coffee at Culpan, from Don Francisco Ocheita in the early 1900s to today. After Don Roberto Toledo passed away in 2008, his daughters and grandsons carried on the tradition, keeping the same philosophy of patience and care at every step of the process.
It is the philosophy inherited from Roberto Toledo and sums up how Culpan works. It means taking no shortcuts: respecting the time spent in the nursery, the slow ripening of the high-altitude bean, the manual harvest cherry by cherry and a careful mill. That patient wait is what later shows in the cup.
The farm sits in the municipality of Colomba, in the department of Quetzaltenango, western Guatemala, on the foothills of the Santiaguito volcano. It lies at an altitude of between 1,280 and 1,524 metres above sea level, with an average annual rainfall of 3,770 mm.
See how we grow, harvest and mill our high-altitude coffee, step by step.
Explore the coffee