Honduras

Quality in Honduras seems to keep improving, partly thanks to the work of visionaries like Benjamin Paz and his company Beneficio San Vicente in helping producers to realise the quality of their coffees, and connecting them to like-minded roasters. The Santa Barbara region provides some challenges to those hoping to grow high quality coffee, in terms of climate, economics and access to market, but these challenges seem to strengthen the resolve of the farmers here; the vast majority of Honduran Cup of Excellence winners have come from Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara has also seen a huge growth in the native Honduran Parainema varietal; both of this month’s coffees are examples of this.

Parainema was created by the Honduran Coffee Institute in response to a nematode outbreak in the mid 80’s.

We often find high acidity in Parainema lots, and excellent body, ranging from tea-like, to juicy or creamy depending on processing. This high acidity contributes to the ripe fruit flavours we so enjoy at La Cabra, and as such Parainema is fast becoming a firm favourite of ours. This month’s lots are processed rather differently, creating different interpretations of the fresh Parainema character.

Erin Moreno

The Moreno family have been growing excellent quality coffee for years. Erin’s father Pedro was one of the first producers to enter the specialty coffee market in Santa Barbara, founding the coffee industry in the town of El Cedral, where the family is still based. Pedro still works on the farms occasionally, even at 90 years old. Erin inherited this plot of the farm from Pedro, initially planted with Catimor. However, after witnessing the success of Paraneima on other parts of the farm, Erin chose to replant the entire plot soon after he took over.

The varietal characteristics are clear here, with fresh floral aromas followed by a crisp and juicy acidity. The anaerobic pre-fermentation highlights this acidity, while adding layers of complexity, especially in the finish. The herbal Parainema character softens into an almost tea-like dryness in the finish, bringing an excellent balance to the cup. 

To achieve this, Erin sealed Paraneima cherries in plastic bags for 48 hours, kick starting fermentation, pushing for the generation of lactic acid bacteria. From here, a more traditional washed protocol was followed, de-pulped, fermented once more in tanks for 18 hours, then washed with clean water several times before drying.

Fredy Sabillon 

Similar to Erin, Fredy’s father also worked with coffee, and brought Fredy to the farm from a young age. Fredy has managed his own farm since 2006, when he planted coffee on a small plot inherited by his father. Using this experience, he bought this 3 hectare plot together with his brother. After hearing of neighbours finding success with speciality coffee, and with Parainema, Fredy decided to follow suit. 2022 was only his third year producing speciality coffee, and he is still learning with each harvest, constantly improving.

Fredy’s farm sits at a lower altitude than many of the other producers we work with in Santa Barbara, meaning he has to find different methods to produce quality. He does this in two ways. The daytime heat is clear to feel when on visits to Fredy, especially compared to some of the Sagastumes’ and the Morenos’ high altitude plots. This means pests and fungal infections thrive, so the resistance of the Parainema varietal is vital here. The inherent acidity of the varietal also adds a ‘high grown’ profile in the cup than wouldn’t normally be possible here. The next method Fredy uses is careful processing; this lot was processed as a honey, with a 20 hour pre-fermentation in closed tanks, before drying on raised beds for around 15 days. 

The pre-fermentation under warm conditions, alongside the relatively long drying time, means a degree of process influence on the cup, softening the Paraneima character into rich and ripe fruit.

We’re excited to have Honduras become a bigger part of what we do, and to continue our partnerships with Erin, Fredy and the Sagastume family. Our local partner, Benjamín Paz, has connected us with several small producers in the Santa Barbara region over the past few seasons, and it’s been a privilege to meet them on their farms each year. We believe we’ve found our focus in this small group, and look forward to our next trip, coming up this spring.