LOS CEDROS / HONDURAS
LOS CEDROS / HONDURAS
Flavor Profile :
Tropical fruits, Pear, Cane sugar.
Origin: Honduras
Producer: Jose Benigno Dominguez
Region: Intibuca > Pozo Negro
Farm: Los Cedros
Variety: IH-90
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1600 - 2000 masl
Harvest: 2023
This coffee has a bright and pronounced tropical fruit-like sweetness along with a soft, pear-like fruitiness. The finish lingers with a rich brown sugar-like sweetness.
Jose's passion for coffee was ignited from a young age, having been born into a coffee farming family. At just 12 years old, he began nurturing 1,600 coffee seedlings himself. However, when his parents decided to relocate to Campanario, Masaguara, Jose had to travel back and forth between the new home and farm to tend to the plants. Despite the challenges, he experienced his first coffee harvest which fueled his enthusiasm to expand the farm.
At 25, Jose Benigno married and moved with his wife to the mountains near the coffee farm. Harboring dreams of exporting his coffee internationally, an encounter with a local coffee buyer in Intibuca enabled Jose to realize this ambition.
Today, around 20 staff members harvest the coffee cherries on the farm. The harvested coffee undergoes environmentally-friendly machine milling. Following traditional methods, it ferments for 28-32 hours in tanks, with fermentation times adjusted based on weather and temperature. Afterwards, the coffee is dried over 20-25 days. Jose's entire family is involved in the production process, with stringent sanitation protocols observed to maintain premium quality.
The final step in processing coffee is the dry mill, where the dried coffee cherry husks are removed.
Larger mills (companies that operate dry mills to remove the parchment) will not run their mills for small lots. A lot refers to a batch of green coffee beans classified by factors like plot, variety, and harvest date. Running the mill for small lots is too costly.
This means smallholder farmers have to combine their harvests with neighboring producers to create a large enough lot to access the mills. However, this results in the anonymization of individual producers, with coffee of varying quality being blended into regional blends.
Having high traceability (ability to identify the producer and origin) is crucial for sourcing quality coffee.
The project in this region facilitated by Nordic Approach (the agent for this coffee) aims to have each producer's coffee processed and milled separately as individual lots. This allows producers to access higher prices commensurate with their quality. For us roasters, it's a win-win enabling access to distinctive, high-quality coffees from identifiable producers.
By separating, processing, and paying based on quality for each producer's lot, Nordic Approach's initiative resolves challenges faced by smallholders while benefiting both producers and consumers. It contributes significantly to building a sustainable, traceable supply system.
