About This Coffee
The Salazar family were among the first to cultivate coffee in Pashapa. Socorro Salazar, mother of the current owner, Mauricio, has been cultivating coffee on Finca Meson since 1965. Mauricio inherited the farm from his father, Jorge Salazar.
Mauricio is one of 6 boys and his 5 brothers each have a coffee plot near his plot, Finca Meson. Altogether, they cultivate 32 hectares, which make up Finca Pashapa, the family’s larger farm.
Mauricio has 3 children who he hopes will inherit the same desire to excel in coffee production and learn to love working in coffee as much as he does.
Cultivation
In addition to the Parainema in this lot, the Salazar family also cultivate more than 12 varieties including: Yellow Catuai, Pacas, Pacamara, Icatu, Ihcafe 90, Lempira, Bourbon, Maragogype, Geisha, Java, Mundo Novo and Typica.
Mauricio has also expanded his cultivation into sugar cane. He produces Organic panela for family consumption, which he believes is an essential part of a healthy and nutritious diet.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Mauricio and Socorro selectively handpick ripe, red cherry and deliver it to Beneficio San Marcos in San Marcos, Ocotepeque. At the wet mill, cherry is sorted and pulped and then fermented for 8 to 12 hours. Following fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water and laid on raised beds. Parchment is raked frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 10 to 15 days for parchment to dry.
About Paraneima
Parainema was first bred by IHCAFE (Instituto Hondureño del Café) in the 1980s. Part of the Sarchimor family, Parainema is coffee leaf rust (CLR) resistant. It does well at medium altitude and is a dwarf plant, which allows farmers to plant trees more densely to maximize yield per hectare.
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.