Ricardo 'El Tigre' Zelaya

Ricardo Zelaya’s farm, Santa Clara, located in the southern slopes of the Antigua Valley between 1550-1800 meters above sea level, is privileged to have some of the finest volcanic soils for the cultivation of specialty coffee. Santa Clara won many awards for quality such as the Guatemala Cup of Excellence in 2001, 2009 and 2010.

Ricardo Zelaya cultivates the coffee at the plantation under strictly controlled shade trees which allow the coffee plants to receive the ideal amount of sunshine required to produce fine and aromatic coffee. Bourbon, Caturra and Catuai varieties have been cultivated at Santa Clara for many years. For the last few years, Ricardo has conducted trials of Bourboncito (Bourbon 300). Over the years he has gradually replaced most of the Catuaí with either Bourbon or Bourboncito.
The hand-picked fruit is processed traditionally at Ricardo’s Santa Clara wet mill with crystal clear water. The beans are then patiently dried on tiered, raised beds with a greenhouse style enclosed canopy. The coffee is finally dry milled at the Bella Vista mill. Every step in the mill is monitored constantly to maintain the quality. Each lot is cupped by two expert cuppers to assure it is up to quality standards.