Our sourcing strategy
Our longest-standing producer relationship is with the Caballeros in Honduras. Morten was sourcing from this pair of experienced specialty producers since his time as buyer for the roastery Solberg & Hansen.
We are also building a new program with smallholders in the Intibuca region to provide access to the specialty market for these quality focused farmers.
The Value Chain
The relationships
Caballeros
We started buying coffees from Caballeros already in 2012. Marysabel Caballero and her husband Moises Herrera are working with over 200 hectares of land together with Marysabel’s father Fabio Caballero.
They are 2nd and 3rd generation coffee farmers and Fabio has been rewarded many times for his commitment to developing coffee quality in Honduras. We have known the family since mid 2000 when Morten was buying their coffee for Solberg & Hansen. We carry a broad range of coffees from their different farms. The couple also own their own dry mill and export their coffee directly.
Intibuca project
This is a new project we look forward to developing in the coming months. We are working with a partner in the Masaguara, Intibuca region where we have found exceptional coffee from 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 handful. Each grower has their own small mill and African beds for optimal drying ( of 12 to 22 days), and they have made many improvements in processing since the project started. This region is special and their is an abundance of great coffee, the farmers just need better access to specialty roasters
The Cultivars
The main cultivar is Catuai. We have also seen some surprisingly good results of Lempira, the local Catimor. We do also buy some coffees of other Bourbon and Typica cultivars.
Processing
Many of coffees we are doing is produced by eco pulpers. This is good for the environment as they saves a lot of water. The water used can also be recycled. Generally it will remove about 80-90% mucilage before they dry them. In Honduras they call those coffees washed. In other places they would call them white honey. A broad range of our coffees from the Caballeros are washed and soaked, meaning they remove as much mucilage as they can before they soak the parchment over night in clean water. This will remove any remains of mucilage. Some are also doing a traditional fermentation process. They keep all the mucilage, ferment it with or without water overnight, rinse and wash it in clean water, before it is dried on either patios or raised beds.
At a Glance
Harvesting season: December – April
Arrival times: April – June
Volumes: From 5 – 50 bag lots. Average 15 bags.
Packaging: 30 kg vacuum boxes and 69 kg Grain Pro bags
Price levels: 9,50 – 12,50 USD/kg
Cultivars: Catuai, some other Bourbon cultivars and Lempira.
Processes: Washed, natural, honey, anaerobic
Flavor profiles: Red berries, plum, cacao, black berry, florals and citrus fruits
Usage: Widely used for filters, as single origin espresso and in espresso blends
Shelf life: Normally holds up well for 9 months to a year. We can never guarantee more than 6 months after arrival for any coffees
Honduras blog posts:
LOS PINOS BY JOAQUINA MONTOYA – Coffee of the month – August
Los Pinos by Joaquina Montoya Los Pinos – a fermented forward coffee that displays Honduras’ potential. Joaquina Montoya – a producer we absolutely admire! Why this coffee stands out? When the flavor is already outstanding, we move on to see all the details about a coffee, including the story and the […]
Bomba de Fruta: the story behind the concept
Over the years, we have developed a taste for fruit-loaded profiles, and we have noticed the same trend among roasters, as they have been asking us for more fruity wild notes and … why not? middling levels of funk! We became more creative and bold because of this, so we […]
Outstanding Central American coffee producers ➡️ Honduras and El Salvador
More than 10 years of exploring, tasting, and searching for the best coffee in the world led us to Central America, where we marveled at the amazing and diverse beans these countries are producing. So, of course, we also have in our offer list some truly outstanding coffee from El […]