Montecillos LOT 1 - Honduras
COUNTRY: Honduras
FARM/COOP/STATION: Montecillos & San Isidro
VARIETAL: Bourbon
PROCESSING: Natural
ALTITUDE: 1670 m.a.s.l
OWNER : Wilmer Grau
REGION: Intibuca
FLAVOUR NOTES: Fullbodied and sweet, with notes of dark red berries, rummy tropical fruit, caramel and raisin
ABOUT THIS COFFEE
Wilmer is one of the farmers with the largest farms from Nordic Approach’s partners in Intibuca, he is also the chairman of the Intibuca group. Wilmer is producing great coffee of his own as well as processing the cherry of some family members at his mill, for instance for his mother (Joaquina Montoya Alvarado). His mill and farm are at 1670 masl, the farm is made up of different plots along the mountainside. In the past year he has also reinvested the premiums he has made into building bigger floating tanks.
PROCESSING:
Wilmer first removes floaters before processing his coffee, then the cherry goes through a small motorized pulper that can also be used to pulp by hand. After this the parchment can be passed through a machine to mechanically remove the mucilage, however Wilmer tried this method for two years and was not entirely satisfied with the result. The profile did not cup as well as when he dry ferments the parchment and then washes it through a channel.
COFFEE IN HONDURAS
Honduras is a small yet mighty coffee producer. The country boasts the largest per capita coffee production in the world. Beginning in 2017, Honduras began placing in third place for Arabica production volume globally. For this slot, they compete with Ethiopia—a country 10 times larger than Honduras. The two countries trade between third and fourth place annually, but the achievement is impressive, nonetheless.
Coffee arrived in Honduras on trading ships in the 18th century. While some small-scale farmers were growing coffee as a minor cash crop early on, banana remained the main cash crop in Honduras throughout the 19th century and into the beginning of the 20th. It was not until the late 20th century that widespread and more intensive coffee farming began.
It is only in more recent years that coffee production in Honduras has reached specialty levels comparable to other Central American countries, but specialty roasters are responding with enthusiasm. In 2017, a lot in the Cup of Excellence garnered the highest price ever paid for a Cup of Excellence coffee in any country: $124.50 per pound (approximately $277 per kg).
Intibuca project (Text borrowed from our friends at green coffee supplier Nordic Approach):
This is part of a completely new range of coffees from us. We are working through a guy on the ground that are contributing to quality development in the Masaguara, Intibuca region.It’s a region he’s explored for 3 years with great succes. We have found exceptional coffee of small growers with an average production of 20 to 50 bags. There is about 250 growers in the program, but we are currently just buying from a handfull. Each grower has it’s own small mill and african beds for optimal drying ( of 12 to 22 days), and they have made loads of improvements of processing since the project started. All lots are separated by cultivar. This region is special and ample. And it’s needed to bring more importers and roaster closer to the producers.
From 2017 we decided to step up and have taken on a new project and slowly increase volumes. The coffees from Honduras can be so amazing when they are from the right places and are processed well. In our opinion they often have more complexity, depth and richness than most other Central American coffees.
Many of the buyers in Honduras are focused in and around Santa Barbara. We figured that if we are going to do something new in Honduras we should do a different range of coffees from another area. And find producers with great potential that need help to build a market for their products. Hopefully we can contribute to product development, higher premiums and build something over time.
We have initited a partnership with a group of growers in Intibuca. These producers are smaller with 3-8 hectares each, and they all have their own micro mill. They are supported by a guy, called Rony, that are helping them on quality control and better preparation as well as better yields. We came across these producers and the region through him. When we got the first samples we were overwhelmingly surprised by the flavor profiles and potential. These coffees are introduced now in 2017 for the first time ever.
Intibuca is a completely new thing for us that we would have to dig in to the next few years. We have some insight in how they work and a good overview of their standards, but have a lot to learn. This regions and the producers are not yet well known We will try to developed the products and the market together. Historically we have always paid good premiums for the coffees and have been all transparent about it. In return the producers have been very committed to invest in quality development. We hope to get roasters visiting them during the next years to be developing their own relation with these farmers, and also potentially also curate their own range of products. We believe sharing information both ways will contribute to better coffees and a higher price acceptance at consumer level. Eventually this can lead to a more sustainable price level for the farmers and higher salaries and better working conditions for the workers and families.
