Honduras: La Paz - Finca La Joya Microlot

Honduras: La Paz - Finca La Joya Microlot

Natural Process ∙ Medium Roast

Winey acidity and sugary sweetness; remarkable cooked berry, nutmeg, and amaretto flavors.

Grown at 1750 Meters Above Sea Level (MASL)

Our Origin Select coffee this month comes from the Finca La Joya in the region of Guajiquiro, Montecillos, Department La Paz, located in southwestern Honduras.Miguel Alfonso Lopez owns and operates this 11 hectare farm called Finca La Joya, where he has roughly 40,000 trees planted and also produces corn and bananas. Miguel harvests from December to March and produces both washed and natural coffees, all dried on patios. Finca La Joya produces around 14,000 kilograms of coffee annually. This coffee is cross of Caturraand Mundo Novo varietals made by Instituto Agronômico de Campinas, Brazil; first released in 1972.

While Honduran coffees still tend to live up to their reputation as “mild” (nutty, sweet, heavy-bodied but without the oomph of acidity that characterizes a fantastic Guatemalan or the dynamic profile of a top Costa Rican), we do think there is a bright future for breakout producers who are interested in committing to quality and in achieving that microlot status.

La Paz, an area famous for coffee production in Honduras, is high in elevation with cool temperatures. These factors cause coffees to ripen slowly, developing sugars that are then processed in these comfortable climates. These coffees have high fruity sweetness with flavors of berries or peach. Despite lacking the “sexy” reputation of other Central American coffee-growing countries like Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala, Honduras has quietly become the bigger producer, exporting more volume than any other nation in the region, and the seventh overall in the world for exports.