About Us
At the Beach Bar in St. John, USVI
So, how did we get into selling coffee? Well, the story is, a few years ago, Guillermo, a colleague of my husband, Eric, came back from a trip back home in Guatemala and gave him a bag of coffee beans. Eric brought home this bag of magic beans to Mimi and when we opened up the bag and the whole house smelled heavenly.
When Eric asked Guillermo where he got this coffee, he answered 'from my family's farm'. It turns out the Solares family has owned a small coffee farm in Coban, Guatemala for three generations. Their farm is located at around 4500 feet in the mountains about 4 hours outside of Guatemala City.
We never really thought about going into business until Carlos, Guillermo’s son, approached us and said he wanted to introduce his coffee to the U.S. market. Mimi started looking at selling at farmer’s markets but we were too late to get in anywhere that year.
In 2009, we decided to look into this again and with a simple twist of fate, the Optimist Club of Greater Vienna gave us a spot. How did we decide on the name Guata Java? Well, bottom line is, Mimi won the argument.
When Eric asked Guillermo where he got this coffee, he answered 'from my family's farm'. It turns out the Solares family has owned a small coffee farm in Coban, Guatemala for three generations. Their farm is located at around 4500 feet in the mountains about 4 hours outside of Guatemala City.
We never really thought about going into business until Carlos, Guillermo’s son, approached us and said he wanted to introduce his coffee to the U.S. market. Mimi started looking at selling at farmer’s markets but we were too late to get in anywhere that year.
In 2009, we decided to look into this again and with a simple twist of fate, the Optimist Club of Greater Vienna gave us a spot. How did we decide on the name Guata Java? Well, bottom line is, Mimi won the argument.
