Flavour Profile: Lime Cordial, Butterscotch, Pineapple
Farm: La Tigra
Producer Jose Andres Castillo Mejia
Location El Sauce, Santa Barbara, Honduras
Elevation 1600 masl
Variety Pacas, Parainema, Catuai
Process Washed
Sourcing Caravela
José started his coffee journey in 1990 after being a part of the Honduran military police. He bought a farm in Santa Barbara and worked with commodity level coffee first. After realising he was not able to make a livable wage from commodity coffee, he sold his farm, and bought a new block called La Tigra. Motivated by his neighbours and friends’ production practices, he began changing his agricultural processes to improve the quality and yield of his fruit, and was able to make more money for his effort.
In 2018, José and his son decided to try producing micro-lots; small plots that are hand picked and carefully processed to create exemplary cups of coffee, which sell for higher prices. Once they began receiving positive feedback and income, they dedicated themselves to the production of specialty coffee, investing time into different varieties and improving their farming practices. This honey lot is a beautiful example of the hard work that José and his son have carried out.
This honey process is achieved by fermenting the whole cherries for 48 hours before de-pulping the fruit. The mucilage covered parchment is then dry fermented for another 48 hours before being dried over the span of 20 days. During this time hand sorting is undertaken to remove any damaged or defective beans. Once the appropriate moisture level is achieved, the beans are milled out of the parchment and the green coffee beans are ready to be shipped.
José feels a great passion for coffee, and his long term goals are to plant and produce gesha, and create space on his farm for tourists to learn about coffee production. This is our first time buying coffee from José, and we are so excited to share it with our community.
