The Reyes family bought the land at San Patricio El Limón in August 1997, in the hills of Palencia, a short drive east of Guatemala City. Guadalupe “Beto” Reyes and his brothers set out to carry on their family’s coffee-growing tradition. They started small, buying modest parcels with a lot of hard work, and gradually built it into an eighteen-hectare farm, around half of it planted with coffee. It sits between 1,350 and 1,850 metres above sea level, surrounded by volcanic soil, forest, and the kind of temperate climate that coffee plants thrive in.
Beto has always liked to experiment, and that’s one of the big reasons we love buying from El Limón. We were introduced to the family in 2013 by our mutual friend Raul Rodas (2012 World Barista Champion), and that same year they became the first producers we ever bought from directly in Guatemala. They just keep getting more impressive each year.
A family operation
Handing the farm on to the next generation has long been one of Beto’s goals, and it’s very much happening. As well as running San Patricio, Beto is the mayor of Palencia and has several other business interests, which makes him a very busy person. He’s always been backed up by his wife Marilyn, and over the years their children have gradually taken on bigger roles, bringing training in agricultural science to the farm along the way. Today Eliana, Betio, Saul and Ruth are all involved in the day-to-day. Each one specialises in a different part of the business, and decisions are made together.
Beto’s brother Felix runs the wet mill, which the family have operated since the very beginning. Having their own mill means they can process many lots at once, keeping each day’s picking, process and varietal in its own parcel. Neighbours bring their coffee to be processed there too.
Putting Palencia on the map
Palencia isn’t one of Guatemala’s eight officially recognised coffee-growing regions, and names like Antigua, Huehuetenango and Cobán tend to dominate the conversation. But Palencia is building a name of its own. El Socorro, another Palencia farm, came second in the 2021 Guatemala Cup of Excellence, and the Reyes family have been racking up results too. Beto has helped build and develop the town alongside running the farm. Honestly, we have no idea how he finds enough hours in the day.
The farm mainly produces Caturra and Bourbon, but Beto’s experimental streak has led to plantings of SL28, H1, H3, Maracaturra, Maragogype, Geisha, Pacamara and Catuaí (both yellow and red). That same restlessness has driven a range of natural and hybrid process lots, still relatively uncommon in Guatemala, where washed methods dominate.
Getting noticed
In 2021, a naturally processed Pacamara from El Limón placed 14th in the Guatemala Cup of Excellence. In 2025 the family went further, with another natural Pacamara finishing 8th in the competition’s naturals category with a score of 88.38. That same year, a natural Pacamara from El Limón took 2nd place in the Natural category of Flores del Café, a competition organised by Anacafé and IWCA Guatemala for coffees produced by women, scoring 88.25. Not bad for a region most coffee drinkers haven’t heard of yet.
Behind those results is serious long-term investment. Over the years the family has rebuilt the wet mill, added a QC lab, constructed a new warehouse, built accommodation for workers, and installed around eight water reservoirs across the farm.
- Country: Guatemala
- Region: Palencia
- Farm: San Patricio El Limón
- Farmers: The Reyes family: Guadalupe Alberto ‘Beto’ Reyes Aguilar, Marilyn, Eliana, Betio, Saul & Ruth
- Altitude: 1,350 to 1,850 m.a.s.l.
- Farm size: 18 hectares
- Coffee growing area: 9 hectares
