Honduras San Vicente Pacas - Alexis Pineda *TOP LOT*

This is a washed SHG grade microlot from producer Alexis Pineda's farm Finca El Zancudel in the Montecillos region of south-west Honduras. This lot was produced as part of a collaborative project with Beneficio San Vincente. Read more about this project in our blog post, “New, Different, Exciting: Microlot Separation and Prep in Honduras.”

THE PRODUCER

Alexis Pineda Sagastume is a small farmer from the community of El Sauce, Santa Barbara department. From a young age, Alexis' Father & Grandfather taught him how to work with coffee. From them he learned all the necessary skills to produce it and then 10 years ago, his father gave him a plot for conventional coffee production. Alexis grew this project until 3 years ago, when a friend told him about the potential of specialty coffee. The initial feedback from his samples was positive, so Alexis decided to pursue specialty for the long term, improving his cherry selection and processing techniques to increase the quality of his crop.

Finca El PZacundel is a 1.75ha farm situated at 1,490masl and planted with 100% Pacas variety.

THE PROCESS

Ripe coffee cherries are pulped at the family beneficio (mill) and then dry fermented for an extended period of 36 hours. The coffee is then washed with plenty of clean water until the remaining mucilage has been removed. After washing the coffee is dried on raised beds for an average of 9 days during which time it is handpicked to remove defects.

THE REGION

This coffee comes from the village of El Sauce on Santa Barbara Mountain, a mountainous massif with an area of 121.3 km2 and a maximum height of 2750 meters above sea level, which is mostly a virgin forest reserve declared as a national park since 1987.

Most of the native people of the area began to grow coffee since the 1940s, mainly in the lower areas, although it was always a secondary crop. From the 1970s, coffee became the main crop in the area, promoted by the rise in prices at that time, with Bourbon being the most widespread varieties. Since then coffee has become the basis of the local economy for these communities, as well as an important cultural element.

The Montecillos region is notable for its high altitude and subsequently cool temperatures, which allow coffee cherries to mature slowly and develop increased complexity in the cup.