“I really didn’t realize how much of a difference there was in coffee until I came to the US,” says Abner Argueta, owner and roaster of Argueta’s Coffee located at the Nashville Farmers Market. “In Guatemala, we don’t appreciate what we have because we grow it right there. To me, coffee was coffee. But it’s not the same; I didn’t know until many years later that we were always drinking really good coffee.”
Abner, who grew up in Guatemala, is the sole roaster, and meticulously crafts small batches of coffee, ensuring freshness with each order. Sourced from farmers he’s known for generations, these beans are shipped from Guatemala to Cookeville, TN by Abner’s cousin, Manrique.
Even though coffee has been grown for thousands of years, it did not come to Guatemala until Jesuit monks started cultivating it in the 1700s. It wasn’t until 1859 that the first 50,000 pounds of coffee were exported from the country. For four generations, the Argueta family has been cultivating coffee in the western highlands of Guatemala. In 2015, Abner founded Argueta’s Coffee, bringing the beans he grew up harvesting as a child to Cookeville, TN.
Abner’s great-grandfather, Valentin Ceballos, established Finca Alta Luz (translated as Highlight) farm, which was later renamed Naranjo, in the region of Huehuetenango. At an elevation of 6000 feet above sea level, Valentin and his son-in-laws would tend to the small farm, transporting the beans by horses on dirt trails the 30 miles into Soloma, the nearest town.
By the 1950s, the family farm had relocated. On the new farm, Abner’s grandfather trained and rehabilitated approximately 3,000 challenging horses during his lifetime. Despite this, there were still around four acres devoted to coffee cultivation. Additionally, there was a plot for growing vegetables for the family kitchen and sugar cane to be sold at the market.
“When I got home from school, I would help my Dad with the farm,” says Abner. Starting at the age of about 10, I learned how to hoe and till the soil on weekends. We pruned using a small saw and cleared weeds with a machete. I assisted in de-pulping, harvesting, washing, and drying the coffee beans – everything related to the operation of a coffee farm. It has always been my dream to return to the land, my roots, and have my own plot to grow coffee back in Guatemala.
Abner Argueta on Guatamalan coffee.
Abner remains the sole roaster of the company, roasting small batches of coffee freshly when orders come in. We aim to import coffee annually following the new harvest. His cousin, Manrique, sources the beans from farmers the family has known for generations and ships them to Cookeville, TN.
“Experience the rich heritage of Argueta’s Coffee, at the Nashville Farmers Market, where tradition meets quality in every cup.