Roast Level: Light Roast
Cupping Notes: Banana Cream, Lemonade, Key Lime Pie
Region: Las Flores, Santa Barbara
Farmer: Andres Fernandez
Farm: Don Andres
Varietal: Parainema
Process: Natural
About This Coffee
This lot is a natural-processed, single-variety Parainema microlot. Andres Fernandez Madrid and his wife Mirna Judith Lopez produce Pacas, Catuai and Parainema on their farm in Western Honduras. Don Andres's Farm is a 3.5 hectares parcel located in the village of Las Flores, Santa Barbara, at an elevation of 1550 meters.
Parainema is a mutation from the Timor variety (itself a natural cross between C. arabica and C. canephora (Robusta) that appeared spontaneously on the island of Timor in 1920s.), selected by Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE) for its resilience to leaf rust.
Finca Don Andres
High up in the mountains of Santa Barbara, sits Finca Don Andres. The roads up to the town of Las Flores are hard to navigate and 4-wheel drive and good ground clearance is definitely required. Because of the high altitude and cool temperatures, the proximity to Lake Yojoa and air heavy with moisture, the farm is often shrouded in a dense layer of mist – causing the coffee cherries to ripen more slowly.
In 1981, Andres Fernandez planted his first batch of Bourbon on a piece of land he’d recently purchased, he’d decided that coffee was going to be his way of providing for his young family. In those early years, it was a very small and simple operation – Andres would carry his coffee down the mountain on a mule, walking the 4 kilometers on foot, guiding the animal as he went. As the years passed, the farm gradually expanded, and in 2000 he gave a section of the farm to his five sons – at the time, Nahun (the youngest) was 16 years old, and he’s been growing coffee ever since.
In 2010, Nahun, Javier, and their three brothers decided to name the farm Don Andres, in honor of their father. Today they are a family united, with father, children, and grandchildren all growing coffee on the same land.
When we first started working with Javier and Nahun, they grew regionally common varieties, such as Pacas and Bourbon, and produced exclusively washed coffees. Over the years, they’ve grown to become leaders in their community, always on the cutting edge of new techniques and experimentation.
The farm is sectioned out into different, variety specific lots. Gone are the days of producing only washed coffees, using varieties traditionally associated with the region. Today, the Fernandez brothers grow a wide selection of varieties (including geisha), and are keen to try new experimental processing methods. In fact, back in 2016, they produced the first ever naturally processed coffee from Santa Barbara.
Growing Coffee in Honduras
Honduras is somewhat unique in that it experienced the most significant growth in export volume after the emergence of the specialty coffee industry, so new farmers and new mills begin with quality as their goal. Coffee is now pervasive in Honduras, grown in 210 of the 298 municipalities and throughout central and coastal highlands within six districts identified as Coffee Regions. Starting in the north and moving south, the regions are Copan, Opalaca, Montecillos, Comayagua, El Paraiso, and Agalta. More than 60 percent of Honduras coffee is grown above 12 hundred meters and as high as 16 hundred. Almost 90 percent of Honduras coffee is grown on small (less than 153 bags) and medium (between 153 and 766 bags) sized farms. Virtually all Honduras coffee (over 90 percent) is washed and sun dried. Plant varieties include Cautuai, Caturra, Bourbon, Typica, and Pacas.
