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Guatemala City · Guatemala

12 Onzas

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Overview

12 Onzas is the flagship project of the Solano family — fourth-generation coffee growers from Finca Concepción Buena Vista in San Martín Jilotepeque at 1,800 meters above sea level — with cafés in Guatemala City's Zone 4, Zone 9, Zone 10, and Antigua. The brand is led by David Solano (three-time Guatemalan Barista Champion who represented Guatemala at the 2018 World Barista Championship in Amsterdam), his brother Eddy who oversees coffee production at the farm, and David's wife Atenea Kairé who manages operations and branding. In 2019 the family launched El Sapito Project at Concepción Buena Vista to experiment with new processing methods alongside an on-farm greenhouse for varietal trials, and the family's beans are exported to international roasters including Nashville's 8th & Roast and Dubai's Café Rider.

Known for

  • Founded by 4th-generation coffee farmers from Finca Concepción Buena Vista, San Martín Jilotepeque (1,800 masl)
  • David Solano: three-time Guatemalan Barista Champion, 2018 WBC representative
  • Four cafés (Zones 4, 9, 10, plus Antigua flagship) — minimalist white-and-blue aesthetic
  • El Sapito Project launched 2019 for experimental processing + on-farm greenhouse varietal trials
  • Beans exported globally to roasters including Nashville's 8th & Roast and Dubai's Café Rider

Why it matters

12 Onzas is the leading example of producer-owned specialty cafés in Guatemala, anchoring Guatemala City's specialty scene with a vertically integrated farm-to-cup model that bypasses the standard intermediary chain. The Solano family's cafés have helped drive domestic appreciation for Guatemalan specialty coffee in a country that historically shipped its best lots abroad while drinking commodity Nescafé, and David Solano's competition record makes 12 Onzas a default Guatemala touchpoint for visiting specialty coffee travelers.

Production

destoning
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head roaster
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color sorting
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roaster machine
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filter equipment
V60, Chemex
cupping frequency
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roastery location
Guatemala (farm: San Martín Jilotepeque; cafés: Guatemala City and Antigua)
espresso equipment
La Marzocco / Mahlkönig grinders
annual volume tonnes
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Café

Vía 5 4-50 Zona 4, Guatemala City (one of four cafés)

Recognitions

  • David Solano: 3x Guatemalan Barista Champion
  • 2018 WBC representative (Amsterdam)

Sources

More roasters