Our History
Located on the slopes of the Tacaná Volcano, on the border with Guatemala, on a plain at an altitude of 1,560 meters above mean sea level is the “Muxbal” farm. It has an area of 220 hectares, of which 60% is in the production of Arabica coffee with the Catuai and Mondo Novo varieties, and the remaining 40% is an ecological reserve. Its rainfall is 3,000 mm annually between the months of May to November.
Our History
Located on the slopes of the Tacaná Volcano, on the border with Guatemala, on a plain at an altitude of 1,560 meters above mean sea level is the “Muxbal” farm. It has an area of 220 hectares, of which 60% is in the production of Arabica coffee with the Catuai and Mondo Novo varieties, and the remaining 40% is an ecological reserve. Its rainfall is 3,000 mm annually between the months of May to November.
Thanks to writings that I have found from my father, anecdotes from friends and family, as well as personal experiences and memories, here I tell you a little of that story. The year, 1959, my father had been offered the “Monte Perla” farm for sale.
The day he went to see it, the Ochoa brothers stopped by to offer “Muxbal” for sale. The next day my dad went up to see the farm and this is what he found: to begin with, there was no road and he had to go up on foot. , a very simple house where pigs and chickens came and went as if at home, a wet and dry mill that had to be completely redone, and a finished coffee plantation.
Even so, my dad returned from the farm excited. What did he feel? What did he see? Why did he like him? Was it a challenge for him? only he knows…
He returned to Tapachula to talk to my grandfather (Juan Luethje) to see if it was possible to undo the partnership they had in a farm they had bought a few years before, and requesting his support to buy “Muxbal”.
My grandfather helped him, but both he and friends who knew the farm couldn’t explain how my dad made such a commitment.
The first thing he did was clean the house to make it habitable, one room was designated for my father’s use and the rest of the house for the administrator and his family. Then, little by little, both the wet and dry processing had to be redone and the coffee plantation began to be replanted.
Historical Review
This is how "Muxbal" begins with Enrique Rodríguez.
The road began to be built around 1965. First, making it wider so that the mules carrying the coffee could pass well and little by little so that a vehicle could follow.
In 1966 my father invited several people to form a board of trustees for the paving of the road to Unión Juárez, which was achieved thanks to the support of the Governor, Dr. Samuel León Brindis.
This year it was possible to expand one more room to the house.
The processing process began to be mechanized. The road was finally completed in 1979, as a courtesy, my father gave the keys to the jeep to my grandfather, so that he would be the first to go up to the farm by car, since he had been watching its construction.
My brothers, my children and I, here we learned to drive.
The farm was replanted with the Catuai variety almost entirely, a seedbed of 400 thousand bushes was made, then there was the problem of a river flooding and half of it was lost.
Neighbors were supported so that they could also have part of the almacigo (around 60 thousand bushes) with a symbolic income.
The hostels and the singles kitchen were rebuilt and a tortilla maker was purchased.
Once the road was finished, the replanting of the coffee plantation and other facilities, it was the house’s turn. He demolished the existing house, taking advantage of what he could of wood and in that same place the new house was built.
When I remember my childhood I have very nice memories; how we enjoyed trips to the river with the ice water, how we played in the mill and helped choose the coffee, the walks in the field, the fog inside the house, the rain hitting the roof and that smell of coffee, the story unfolds. repeat now with my children.
Since the day my dad said “I already worked a lot” I have had to continue with everything.
