Learning what goes into a great cup of coffee at Finca Filadelfia in Antigua
For those of us who drink coffee on a regular basis, it’s really more of a way of life than it is a simple beverage. Personally, I can’t imagine starting my day any other way than with a great French Press of coffee! That’s why when I found out that we could go on a tour of one of Antigua’s local coffee farms, I was excited for the chance to share my love of coffee with the kids!
Finca Filadelfia
Farm Hours: 7:00 am- 6:00 pm
Walking Tours start at 9:00, 11:00, and 2:00, Monday-Friday
Tour Price: $20/person
Tour Length: Roughly an hour
Website: Finca Filadelfia (Facebook)
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What is La Finca Filadelfia?
Finca Filadelfia is a historical coffee farm on the outskirts of Antigua, Guatemala. They have been producing coffee locally since the 1870s, more than 150 years, making them one of the first commercial coffee farms in the Antigua area.
Today, they are still using over 200 hectares of land for growing coffee. Some of that is roasted locally and used in their coffee shop, but the majority of it is shipped out to other roasters and coffee producers worldwide.
Apart from simply growing and roasting coffee, Finca Filadelfia also has luxurious hotel accommodations, 2 separate restaurants serving delicious food, and one of the best coffee tours in Antigua.
Finca Filadelfia Coffee Tour
The hotel sounded lovely, and the restaurants promised a great meal, but we already had a place to stay, and there are amazing restaurants all over Antigua. It was the tour that we were interested in.
Right off the bat, we knew we had the right place for a kid-friendly tour of a coffee plantation. Before we had even asked about getting a coffee tour, we were warmly greeted, and our kids were invited to pet the resident burro!
We put our names on the list for a walking tour and within a short time, we were greeted by our guide, who greeted us warmly. And we were off!
Why Antigua, Guatemala is great for growing coffee
The plants themselves were a short walk away, so he began by telling us all about why Guatemala is such an ideal place for growing coffee.
Arabica coffee grows best at altitudes of around 5,000ft (1,500m), which is right where Antigua sits. That’s in contrast to the less tasty Robusta coffee variety which is decidedly less tasty, but easier to grow due to being, well, more robust. It typically grows at lower elevations, too. Estimates for its ideal altitude vary between 600 and 2,400 ft (200- 700m).
Antigua also has amazing weather for growing coffee, with a temperate climate that earned it the nickname, “the land of eternal spring.” Combine that with the rich, volcanic soil from the many volcanoes surrounding the area and you have a coffee grower’s paradise!
That’s not to say there aren’t challenges as well. Arabica beans, while more flavorful and profitable than the robusta variety, is also less hearty. The roots are smaller and weaker, and pests like nematodes have a tendency to wreak havoc on them.
That’s why Finca Filadelfia grafts their arabica plants onto rootstock from the robusta variety! It’s very similar to the way different varieties of grapes get grafted onto parasite-resistant rootstock in vineyards, and it results in plants that do very well in Guatemala.
As we continued our tour, we came face to leaf with rows of these grafted plants, each in their own bit of soil. These were coffee seedlings awaiting planting, and there were tons of them. Coffee plants stop producing as much coffee after about 25 years, so raising up new generations of coffee to replace the old plants is important to remaining in business.
As we moved from seedlings towards the older plants, our guide informed us that we came at a good time, since the coffee cherries were ripe and ready for picking. The ripe coffee cherries are hand-picked at Finca Filadelfia, which employs a large number of locals for that task.
As we looked at the larger coffee plants in front of us, we could see why the fruit is called coffee cherries. Groups of bright red fruit grew among the leaves. Our guide asked if we would like to try some, and our kids jumped at the chance. He helped them to pick a few straight from the tree and warned us not to bite straight in since the coffee bean was at the center.
The flesh of the ripe coffee cherry is sweet and sugary, but it’s not the part that gets used for making coffee. The beans, meanwhile, are sent to be processed.
Processing, Drying, and Sorting Coffee
Unfortunately, because we visited in 2020, we were unable to go inside the processing facility itself. However, our guide did a great job explaining what happens.
After the beans are harvested, they are run through a machine that essentially squeezes the coffee beans out of the fruit. The pulp is sent is drained away and sent to be made into jellies and such.
Invariably, some of the coffee cherries end up not being up to Finca Filadelfia’s standards, and these are removed and dried separately from the higher-quality beans However, they don’t go to waste! The lower-quality coffee gets sent to roasters that make instant coffee products.
The high-quality coffee beans, meanwhile, are sent to be fermented. Coffee that is fermented before getting roasted is typically less bitter than coffee that is not fermented, so most of the best coffees in the world go through this process. The beans are allowed to ferment in a tank for a few days before being moved out to the courtyard for drying.
Finca Filadelfia sun dries their beans in a large courtyard adjacent to the processing facility. Each batch is laid out in a large rectangle, and men with rakes regularly stir the beans to make sure everything dries evenly. My kids loved watching them because they would make patterned designs in the beans with the rakes, similar to the circles and rows you can sometimes see in zen gardens.
Once the beans are finished drying, the Coffee Masters sort and rate the beans according to quality before bagging them up to be shipped to the roasters.
At this point, the coffee tour was finished, but our guide informed us that the price also includes a coffee tasting, so we headed back toward the restaurant where the tasting would take place.
The Cafetenango Restaurant at Finca Filadelfia
On the day that we chose to visit, the Cafetenango restaurant was hosting a brunch, so the cafe was bustling with activity when we entered. Our guide was able to secure our family with a table and then left us in the capable hands of one of the waiters.
Each of us was able to choose a coffee to taste from a small tasting menu. My wife and I are avid coffee drinkers and enjoyed the coffee we were served. It wasn’t the best we’d ever had, but was good enough that we’d do it again.
Our kids, however, are not fans of coffee, and made that abundantly clear.
By this point, we were getting hungry and asked if we could go ahead and order lunch. Cafetenango features a great selection of authentic Guatemalan food, and in contrast to the coffees, the kids loved the fresh juices.
Afterwards, we weren’t quite ready to leave, so we decided to explore a bit more.
While we loved the variety of things to do and see in and around Antigua, one of the things that is lacking is easily accessible playgrounds for the kids. What we found was that the farms just outside of town, like Caoba Farms, ended up being the best places for finding great play time for the kids. Finca Filadelfia continued this trend with a great looking playset and some really cool seesaws made from upcycled farm supplies.
We stayed for another half an hour to give the kids some time to play.
Overall, the coffee tour was an amazing experience, and well worth the price.
Staying at Finca Filadelfia Coffee Resort
While we really enjoyed the tour and the restaurant, we didn’t have an opportunity to book a stay in one of Finca Filadelfia’s hotel rooms. Which is unfortunate, because it sounds like they would make for an incredible stay!
As with most hotels in the Antigua area, there are relatively few rooms available (only 20), but the upside of that is that each of them is beautiful and well taken care of. Reviews say that the beds are comfortable, the rooms are clean, and the views are amazing. Plus, it’s a great location for making the most of your time in Antigua since there are a variety of tours offered by Finca Filadelfia itself, and the staff can arrange transportation to the main plaza in Antigua for other activities.
Other Top Coffee Tours in Antigua, Guatemala
While Finca Filadelfia is the tour that my family chose, there are tons of coffee growers in the area, and many of them have tours as well. Larger farms and co-ops like Finca Filadelfia typically handle their own bookings, while smaller farms often use sites like GetYourGuide to book tours of their farms.
Here are some of the top-rated coffee farm tours you can find in the area:
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