Rodin Villatoro • Natural-Processed Bourbon

In natural processing, the cherries are picked at peak ripeness and laid out to dry whole—fruit and all. As they slowly ferment in the fruit, the beans develop bold, distinctive flavors. It’s a riskier method, but those fruit-heavy beginnings can dramatically shape the final flavor.

When I (Matt) was at Punta Del Cerro in February of '25, the farm was seeing its busiest picking / processing day ever. I think I counted 12 Toyota pickups in the driveway alone, all full of cherry ready to be processed.

The next morning, we were called over to watch Rodin sort the naturals, washed cherry & the anaerobics. He was measuring the sugar content of the cherry before picking, targeting higher levels than most producers. Once it's picked, the whole cherry goes straight onto concrete patios and gets spread thin. A couple of guys watched the patios all day and turned them with rakes so they never dried unevenly and then they would cover them at night so they don't take on moisture. That process runs about two and a half weeks until it drops to around 11 to 12 percent moisture content.

The second morning we came outside and it looked like rain. Someone on the trip asked Don Aurelio what they do when it rains. He grabbed a rake and said, "Here...big piles!" So that's what we did. All of us spent the next 45 minutes raking cherry into big piles to protect it. That's the reality of natural processing. All that careful, methodical work Rodin puts in can get undone by one bad rainstorm.

When you think of Guatemala, you might picture ancient Mayan ruins or colorful highland markets. But walking through Don Aurielio's farm at Punta Del Cerro last year, watching him examine every branch like he was reading a story only he could understand, we realized Guatemala's coffee excellence isn't about following trends—it's about generations of knowledge passed down through whispered conversations at dawn. What we wanted to know is how a country that's been growing coffee since the 1850s stays relevant when everyone's chasing the next new origin. What we learned is that Guatemala doesn't need to chase anything. Whether it's volcanic soil that's been enriched for centuries, or families who've been selecting the best plants for five generations, or producers who still hand-turn their drying coffee every 45 minutes through the night, Guatemala built its reputation on consistency that newer origins are still trying to achieve.