October 2025: Podium Gold. Bonlife Coffee

Country: Guatemala
Varietals: Bourbon and caturra
Region: Hoja Blanca
Process: Natural
Producer: Don Gerson
Elevation: 1,700 MASL
Tasting notes: Creamy brown sugar, pineapple juice, tropical fruit

The coffee:

Hoja Blanca is located about 5 hours north of Huehuetenango, close to the Mexican border near Cuilco.

There, you’ll find dozens of volcano-shaped mountains, deep valleys, switchback red dirt roads, and beautiful lush Avatar-like forests.

Producer Don Gerson began working in coffee shortly after graduating from a car mechanic school in 1990 and then took over Finca San Rafael after his Mother and Father passed in the early 2000s. It wasn’t until 2019 however that Don Gerson developed a passion for Specialty Coffee. In 2019, Don Gerson decided to enter a lot into the Cup of Excellence and won 19th place that year with a Washed Anaerobic Gesha. At that time, Don Gerson didn’t actually have an export license but due to the excellence of that lot, Anacafe expedited the process.

Now empowered with the ability to market and export his own coffee, Don has gotten excited about the opportunity to enter in more lots into the cup of excellence and begin building relationships with interested buyers as a way to grow the farm, and the surrounding community in Hoja Blanca.

The roaster:

Bonlife Coffee Roasters, based in Cleveland, Tennessee, is a direct-trade specialty roaster founded on the idea that coffee can create a “good life” for both farmers and drinkers alike.

Led by Erika Moore, Bonlife sources exceptional coffees through close relationships with producers, roasts in small batches to highlight flavor and freshness, and has earned recognition in national competitions like Golden Bean and Good Food Awards. Their vibrant café and roasting space reflect the same mission that drives their coffee: building community, celebrating quality, and making every cup a force for good.

When Erika and Jeremy Moore started BonLife, they did it with the goal of highlighting producers and helping consumers better understand the story of the many hands that it takes to bring their daily joys to life. What started as a modest endeavor has turned into an obsession to push coffee forward and bring everyone further together. All Bonlife's coffees are roasted and bagged with care by their women owned and led team of pros in Bradley County TN.