A go-to crowd pleaser. Deliciously nutty with milk chocolate notes, this smooth Honduran coffee is balanced with a hint of brightness to make it the perfect every-day cup. read more…

The Story

We're excited to be working with Sean Warner and the fine folks over at Honduran Coffee Alliance for our current Honduran coffees. We are currently roasting 2 different coffees from HCA.

Maria Emilia Barahona

Maria Emilia grew up along the Atlantic coast far from the coffee mountains. At University she met her husband Edwin Nicolas – a coffee farmer through and through. After visiting Edwin’s family on their coffee farm several times, they both decided that the life of a coffee farmer was what they wanted. They bought Finca El Esfuerzo 20 years ago right across the road from the farm that Edwin had inherited so they each have their own farm that they manage together.

The farm was thriving for many years until the rust disease destroyed their entire farm in 2008. The following years were extremely difficult as they had to take out loans to renovate the farm and wait until the trees were ready to harvest again. They have had many other challenges due to climate challenges and low prices but have persevered and now have a great coffee farm again.

Maria and Edwin now have three kids (18, 16, and 6 years old) and are starting to invest more and more in their farms. They credit the CAFESA cooperative that they were founding members of for helping them to thrive again as coffee farmers. The farmers in the area have banded together and support each other and have reached out to other organizations to receive many trainings including a focus on using organic fertilizers. Maria is very proud of having switched to fully organic and receiving the Fair Trade and Organic certifications six years ago. She says she can really see the difference in her farm in how green and lush it now looks.

Hubert Nicolas

Hubert is a third-generation coffee farmer and grew up in the same mountains he has his farm. He left the coffee mountains to study agronomical engineering on the north coast. Coffee is a way of life for the people where he grew up, so he always knew he wanted to be a coffee farmer and work to find a better way to grow coffee. He started to hear about farmers in other countries earning much better prices by selling specialty coffee and after graduating he heard of a cupping program on the radio. He immediately called and applied, and he had the incredible honor to be a part of the very first cupping certification school in Honduras.

Hubert started working for IHCAFE (the Honduran government coffee organization) in 2005 and has developed into one of the most well-respected cuppers in the country. He has grown a passion for helping farmers in the La Paz region earn better prices for their coffee by producing specialty coffee and connecting them to market.

Hubert inherited his first farm, Finca La Pila, after graduating and worked with his family to manage the farm. He later inherited half of Finca Tatascán and bought the other half and he had a very specific vision for the farm. He was able to secure Pacamara seed from a farm that had been producing some of the highest quality lots in Honduras and went to work to make the farm ideal for producing high quality specialty coffee. He is also very passionate about using all organic practices on his farm and he and his cooperative have been Fair Trade and Organic certified.

In 2018, Hubert was able to start his dream of forming his own cupping laboratory in the Santa Maria, La Paz area to work closely with producers to help them connect to the specialty market. He works closely with the CAFESA cooperative that he helped form and has been able to help many producers produce and sell high quality microlots. His passion for what he does is clear, and it will be exciting to see how he can continue to produce great microlots of his own and help many others in the area to create a way to thrive as coffee producers by focusing on quality.

The Brew How-To

Chemex
60g Coffee
Ground at 22 on the Baratza Virtuosso
Rinse the filter before adding grounds
900ml Water at 200 degrees poured slowly
Should brew in 5 to 5:30 minutes

The Details

Producer: Maria Emilia Barahona Hernandez
Cooperative: CAFESA
Farm Name: Finca El Esfuerzo
Farm Location: El Esfuerzo (town), San José (city), La Paz (department/region)
Farm Size: 7 hectares cultivated, additional 2 hectares of forest
Varietal: Catuaí
Processing: washed with dry fermentation
Drying: Solar driers with mesh beds
Elevation: 1550m-1600m
Farm characteristics: ~40% native hardwood tree shade – Wide variety of trees including gravileo, cedar, plantain, and yellow apple trees.
Production: 2020 – Total of 14,000 lbs. parchment (66 bags), 4,000 lbs. parchment (19 bags) processed as a microlot

Producer: Hubert Nicolás Gerardo López
Cooperative: CAFESA
Farm Name: Finca Tatascán
Farm Location: El Aguatal (town), Santa Maria (city), La Paz (department/region)
Farm Size: 1.5 hectares cultivated with Pacamara, 0.7 hectare of recently planted Geisha
Varietals: Pacamara
Processing: washed with dry fermentation
Drying: Parabolic-shaded solar driers with mesh beds
Elevation: 1550m-1600m
Farm characteristics: ~30% native hardwood tree shade – Primarily guama and tatascán trees and some fruit trees
Production: 2020 – 4,800 lbs. parchment (23 bags) at Finca Tatascán, 20,000 lbs. parchment (89 bags) on other farm Finca La Pila.

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