About This Coffee
Pacayal Coffee was born out of the resilience of Honduran farmers who refused to give up on coffee production in the face of the Roya outbreak of 2013. While their fellow farmers considered emigrating to the United States in search of the American Dream, Edgar and Karen Carillo realized they had great coffee and could start a business that would earn quality-driven farmers a better price through direct market access. In 2014 they founded Pacayal Coffee, which has grown to 134 members, 54 of whom are women.
The motto of the organization is “quality does not suffer the crisis,” speaking to the dedication of Pacayal Coffee to producing exceptional coffee and improving the livelihoods of farmers.
Pacayal Coffee invests in several initiatives for producers, including best agricultural practices training to prevent Roya, economic empowerment programs for women, sustainable production practices training, and quality research to develop award-winning coffees.
This honey processed lot comes from a combination of farms from the Cabañas and Chinacla regions in La Paz, Honduras. The varietals' blend, which includes Parainema, Caturra, Catuai, and Bourbon, gives this lot uniformity and consistency in its flavor.
Cultivation
Pacayal Coffee invests in several initiatives for producers, including best agricultural practices training to prevent Roya, economic empowerment programs for women, sustainable production practices training, and quality research to develop award-winning coffees.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
The coffee is harvested at its optimal stage of ripeness and then undergoes a controlled fermentation process in cherry, which can last from 12 to 16 hours, depending on the ambient temperature and climate, based on the experience of the processing team, who have previously received Q pressing training. After the depulping, the coffee is moved to the drying area where it is kept for a period of 12 to 20 days, depending on the ambient temperature, until it reaches 10% moisture content. Subsequently, the quality assurance team generates cupping reports before storage, and it is stored under proper conditions. The coffee must then be cupped periodically every 30 days to ensure there are no negative changes and to maintain the consistency of the batch.
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.
Honduras has everything it needs to become a premier specialty coffee producer. The country has the right growing conditions, abundant fertile soils and soaring altitudes (nearly all farms are at more than 1,000 meters above sea level), plus a variety of microclimates.
Beginning in the early 2000s the industry began to focus on quality. Improved infrastructure (better mechanical dryers, centralized wet mills, an increasing number of solar dryers), quality control/assurance trainings (separating lots by qualities, cupping schools, etc.), the rise of specialty-focused exporters, increased volumes of certified coffees and the strengthening cooperative movement all have worked in tandem to make Honduran coffee ‘one to watch’.
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 $56.50 per kg).
Above all, while Honduras increasingly offers high end microlots, what the country arguably represents overall is exceptional value. Quality has improved massively over the last 15 years, and in addition to unique specialty lots, the country offers very solid, clean blenders at very attractive prices.