The trip was epic, 27 Coffee freaks from around the globe delving deep under the skin of the Guatemala coffee industry! Represented in the group was: Ireland, New Zealand, Korea, and good 'ol USA. Our Guatemala Guides Enrique and Amore were, on top of being total bad asses, extremely knowledgeable.
I can't think of one thing that we weren't exposed to on the trip, cuppings, small estates, big estates, co-ops, wet and dry mill of all sizes, micro-climates, soil types, varieties, every quality of coffee, and much more, all covered in a jam packed ten day tour.
We experience 6 of the 8 growing regions of Guatemala. And when we weren't touring we were having great discussions in the buses in regards to everything coffee. Btw modes of transportation used at various times on the trip: Bus, Plane, Boat, Foot, Motorcycle....all we needed were trains and skateboards to round it out.
Huge props are deserved by Anacafe, as well as the leadership of SCAA and Roasters Guild for pulling off the trip of a lifetime.
I've posted some of my pics from the trip here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beattiep/There are also more pics on the Roasters Guild new fan page on Facebook here:
http://tinyurl.com/yk438g9