Honduras SHG Microlot - Justino Ardon Ayala *TOP LOT*

This is a washed SHG microlot from producer Justino Ardon Ayala and his farm Los Narajos in the Celaque region of western Honduras.

THE PRODUCER

Justino Ardon Ayala founded his farm Los Naranjos in 1985. He cultivates the catimor varieties of IHCAFE 90 and Lempira at altitudes of 1,450masl.

Before getting into coffee, Justino worked 20 years in HONDUTEL (the honduran telecommunication's company) as a telegrapher. In 1988, while working that same job, he bought a 0.70 ha plot of land on which he worked every weekend until he managed to fill it with coffee.

From here, little by little, Justino continued buying more land and kept planting not only coffee but also fruit and timber trees. Thanks to the gradual profits earned from coffee, he was able to improve his wetmill, building a concrete structure in place of makeshift timber boxes. He also was able to built a concrete patio for drying.

In 2013, he built a 1.5 km road to access his farm, allowing for easier movement of coffee and equipment to and from his farm. Today, Justino owns a total area of 7.7 ha, where 5ha is planted with coffee that is processed at his facilities in the community of Suanoy, La Campa, in the department of Lempira.

Justino is currently in the process of gaining RFA, UTZ and Organic certification for his farm.

THE PROCESS

Harvesting is carried out selectively and by hand. Ripe cherries are mechanically pulped and fermented in concrete tanks for 12-14 hours depending on ambient conditions. After thorough washing, the parchment coffee is sun-dried on concrete patios for 6-8 days (until the optimum moisture content is reached.) At this point the coffee is rested in a clean, cool and dry environment before secondary processing (milling, grading, sorting).