It is also by far the most rugged and remote area in Guatemala, with coffee cultivated in broken and very steep terrain. Thanks to the dry, hot winds that blow into the mountains from the Tehuantepec plain in Mexico, the region is protected from frost, allowing coffee to be cultivated up to 6,500 feet (2000 meters). Huehuetenango’s extreme remoteness requires that virtually every producer, large or small, individual or farm, process his own coffee. Fortunately, the region has an almost infinite number of rivers and streams, so a mill can be located almost anywhere.
