Honduras Belarmino Contreras - Parainema (2019 Crop)

This is a washed SHG microlot from producer Belarmino Contreras and his farm 'Genesis' in the village of Las Flores, Santa Barbara.

THE PRODUCER

Belarmino Contreras a small producer from Las Flores, Santa Barbara department, in the region of Montecillos. Belarmino has 3.5ha of land planted with the Pacas and Parainema varieties at an altitude of 1,500masl.

Belarmino's father was a coffee producer since before he was born, so he grew up learning how to harvest and process coffee. At the age of 20, he was given responsibility for managing some of his father's farms. At the age of 30 his father helped him buy his own land and that same year he planted his very first trees of his own. Now that his father has retired, Belarmino manages all the farms himself. He is currently training in organic agriculture and already implementing some of these practices on the farms: avoiding herbicides and using coffee pulp as organic fertilizer

THE PROCESS

Ripe cherries are pulped and then fermented without water for an average of 24 hours to breakdown the remaining sugary mucilage. The coffee is then washed at least 4 times with clean water and dried in a greenhouse for an average of 15 days. During this time the coffee is carefully turned and selected to remove any defects.

THE REGION

The coffee comes from the village Las Flores in the mountains of Santa Barbara, a massif 121.3 km2 long and with a maximum height of 2750 masl. The region is mostly a virgin forest reserve which was declared a national park in 1987. Most of the native people of the area began to grow coffee in the 1940s, mainly in the lower areas, although it was always a secondary crop. From the 1970s, coffee became the primary crop in the area, promoted by the rise in prices at that time, with Bourbon being the most widespread variety. Since then coffee has become the basis of the local economy as well as an important cultural element.

The wider 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.