Every month in our Discovery Subscription, we aim to bring you something that tells a story.
Not just a coffee that tastes great, but a coffee that helps connect the dots between the cup in your hand and the people who made it possible.
For June, we're heading to Guatemala, specifically to the Entre Rios Cooperative in the San Marcos region. It's a coffee that immediately stood out on the cupping table for its comforting sweetness and approachability, with notes of dulcey chocolate, caramel and nougat. But as often happens with great coffees, the flavour is only part of the story.
Behind this lot sits a remarkable cooperative of 52 producers and one of the most fascinating coffee minds we've encountered in recent years: Josué Morales of Los Volcanes Coffee. Together, they represent a side of speciality coffee that is often overlooked — one built not around trends or hype, but around patience, research, sustainability and an obsession with understanding coffee at its deepest level.
Welcome to San Marcos
Entre Rios comes from the department of San Marcos in western Guatemala, close to the country's border with Mexico. The farms sit between 1,250 and 1,500 metres above sea level, where warm days, cool nights and fertile volcanic soils create ideal conditions for growing coffee.
The cooperative itself consists of 52 producers working across nearly 70 hectares of land. Most farms are relatively small, averaging between two and three-and-a-half hectares each, and coffee is grown alongside crops such as bananas and plantains beneath a canopy of natural shade trees.
This is not industrial coffee production.
This is farming on a human scale.
Families working plots that have often been passed down through generations. Communities sharing knowledge, labour and resources. Producers who know every corner of their land and understand how weather, soil and cultivation decisions influence the final harvest.
The result is a coffee that feels unmistakably Guatemalan.
Smooth. Balanced. Sweet. Comforting.
A coffee that doesn't shout for attention but rewards it.
The Coffee in Your Cup
Let's start with what you'll actually taste.
Entre Rios is a fully washed coffee comprising several varieties, including Bourbon, Caturra, Anacafé 14 and Catimor. After harvesting, the coffee is washed and patio dried, producing a clean and balanced cup profile.
When we cupped the coffee at the roastery, three notes consistently stood out:
🍫 Dulcey Chocolate
🍮 Caramel
🍬 Nougat
Together they create a profile that feels familiar and comforting without becoming dull. There's a creamy sweetness throughout the cup, supported by soft milk chocolate characteristics and gentle caramelised sugars.
For many coffee drinkers, this is exactly the kind of coffee they return to again and again.
It's approachable enough for somebody just beginning their speciality coffee journey, yet nuanced enough to keep experienced drinkers interested.
As espresso, it delivers a rich chocolate-forward sweetness.
Through filter methods, the caramel and nougat characteristics become more pronounced.
With milk, it transforms into an incredibly comforting drink that feels almost dessert-like.
It's a coffee designed not for one specific brewing style, but for enjoyment.
Meet Josué Morales
One of the reasons we were drawn to this coffee was the philosophy behind the organisation responsible for exporting it.
Los Volcanes Coffee was founded by Josué Morales, a producer, researcher and coffee professional whose journey into coffee began with what he openly describes as uncertainty and curiosity.
Back in 2003, while studying in Huehuetenango, Josué purchased his first bag of coffee.
At the time, he admits he was largely guessing.
Presented with the choice between Pergamino and Oro coffee, he chose the cheaper option without fully understanding what either term meant. When the coffee was finally processed and roasted, much of the original weight had disappeared, leaving him with considerably less coffee than he'd expected.
Many people might have been discouraged.
Instead, that purchase sparked a lifelong fascination.
A few weeks later, someone who had tried the coffee asked to buy more. It was a small order, but it became the moment that changed everything.
What followed was more than two decades spent exploring every corner of the coffee industry.
Roasting.
Trading.
Community development.
Organic agriculture.
Soil science.
Coffee genetics.
Education.
Today, Josué serves as Creative Director of Los Volcanes Coffee and continues to lead research projects aimed at improving coffee production across multiple origins.
The Lab: Understanding Why Coffee Tastes the Way It Does
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Josué's work is something called "The Lab."
Unlike many coffee companies that focus solely on the final flavour, Los Volcanes has spent years building systems that help explain why coffee tastes the way it does.
The Lab examines relationships between farming practices, seed development, processing decisions and cup quality.
How does shade affect flavour?
What role does soil health play?
How does fertilisation influence sweetness?
What happens when processing methods change?
These aren't questions explored after harvest. They're investigated throughout the growing process itself.
By analysing both sensory data and the physical characteristics of coffee seeds, Los Volcanes can trace flavour back to decisions made months earlier on the farm.
It's a level of curiosity and attention to detail that mirrors what many roasters strive to achieve after coffee arrives at origin.
The difference is that Josué and his team start much earlier.
Why Organic Matters
Entre Rios is produced using certified organic agricultural practices.
For Josué, organic certification isn't simply a marketing tool.
It's a philosophy.
He describes organic agriculture as a system that sustains life, health and the natural structure of soil. Rather than defining organic farming by what it excludes, he prefers to define it by what it supports.
Healthy soil.
Healthy plants.
Healthy ecosystems.
Long-term sustainability.
This thinking has influenced the way Los Volcanes approaches coffee production across its operations.
Coffee, after all, is a living seed.
Every farming decision influences not only this year's crop but future harvests as well.
For producers working on relatively small farms, protecting the long-term productivity of the land isn't optional. It's essential.
The Challenges Facing Guatemalan Coffee
Guatemala remains one of the world's most respected coffee origins, but it faces significant challenges.
According to Josué, one of the biggest issues is the gradual loss of agricultural knowledge. Younger generations increasingly leave rural areas in search of opportunities elsewhere, creating gaps in experience and expertise.
Many larger farms have also disappeared through land-use changes, generational transitions or abandonment.
Meanwhile, access to capital remains one of the greatest barriers facing producers today. Investment in farms, infrastructure and innovation requires funding that is often difficult to secure.
These realities can sometimes feel distant when we're simply brewing a morning coffee.
But they're an important reminder that every bag represents far more than a beverage.
Behind every cup is an agricultural business navigating economic, environmental and social challenges.
Looking Towards the Future
Despite these challenges, Josué remains optimistic.
Los Volcanes is currently involved in one of Guatemala's largest coffee replanting initiatives, introducing approximately 1.5 million new coffee plants across multiple projects.
The work includes studying genetics, soil health and new coffee varieties that may help producers adapt to future environmental pressures.
It's a reminder that great coffee isn't just about preserving tradition.
It's also about innovation.
The best producers understand both.
They honour the lessons of previous generations while remaining open to new ideas and technologies.
That balance is evident throughout the Entre Rios project.
A Coffee Worth Slowing Down For
One response from our interview with Josué particularly stood out.
When asked if he had a message for coffee drinkers purchasing his coffees, his answer was simple:
Work to discover.
Coffee isn't a finished product.
It's a living seed.
It's constantly changing.
Learn to work with it.
We love that perspective.
Because that's exactly what our Discovery Subscription is about.
Not simply receiving coffee each month.
Discovering something new.
A new region.
A new producer.
A new story.
A new flavour.
This June, that journey takes us to the volcanic landscapes of San Marcos, where 52 producers work together through the Entre Rios Cooperative to produce a coffee that is sweet, approachable and deeply representative of Guatemala's coffee heritage.
Whether you're brewing it as a morning espresso, a slow weekend filter coffee or a comforting flat white, we hope you'll take a moment to appreciate the people behind the cup.
Because coffees like Entre Rios don't happen by accident.
They're built through generations of craft, years of research and countless small decisions made by producers who care deeply about what ends up in your mug.
And that's something worth discovering.