1.866.430.9198
A Day in Santa Bárbara, Honduras 2010
Yesterday, I took a bit of a brash step and introduced myself to Angel Arturo Paz who is the cupper and agronomist for the Paz family owned Beneficio San Vicente in Peña Blanca. I was informed about him by my good friend Ryan Brown as someone who is committed to assisting growers in the Santa Bárbara region produce better coffee. This is obviously working as 25 out of 39 coffees which were presented to the International Jury this past week were prepared at Beneficio San Vicente. Of those 39, 25 coffees finally made it through the jury and 18 of the COE coffees this year came from this region.
So what is brash about introducing yourself to someone? Well my introduction came with a request to visit the region and meet some of the farmers. Thankfully he graciously accepted my self-invitation, and Mel and I quickly packed our things and then drove 3 hours to Peña Blanca for the night.
This morning we were picked up by Benjamin Paz and a local producer Luis, who dedicated their day to driving Mel and I around Santa Bárbara and specifically the El Cielito area which is quickly becoming famous for amazing coffee in Honduras. Other specialty roasters who have discovered the great coffee from this region include Tim Wendelboe who was just in Honduras this week as part of the jury.
Mel and I were treated to amazing Honduras hospitality and everywhere we went we were warmly received. We started off the day with a trip to José Amado Fernández’s farm, who just happened to be the 2010 COE Honduras champion this year. It was great to meet this humble farmer and his family, and the farmers who were working with him today to harvest the last of his coffee. Amado owns a small farm and he grows Yellow Catuai and Pacas, which is growing more and more popular with cuppers when talking about Honduras coffee. We took pictures and video, so watch for a video blog in the next week or two dedicated to the competition and farmers of Honduras.
From there we drove around the mountain to the other side, and went to visit the farm of Bertilio Reyes Portillo who was the winner of the Honduras COE last year. We had the opportunity to walk (very steep) up to his new coffee farm and then we spent an hour or so at the Cielito Lindo farm with Extreberto Cáceres Gutiérrez and his family. Here we were treated to a special treat of Tim Wendelboe’s #5 lot from last years COE, which he brought to present to the family. It was a tasty cup of coffee, made all the better by drinking it with Honduran farmers on the mountain in the misty rain.
All in all it was an amazing day of meeting many farmers, both present and past COE award winners. More importantly, it was a day to show farmers that specialty roasters do care about more than just there coffee. They were all so happy that we took the time to come to their humble homes and see their farms. I have to say that today was one of the highlights for me in this past year of coffee. It was humbling to be treated so well, and I hope that I can some way pay them back with talking and writing about the amazing coffee from this little coffee region in Honduras. I for one will be back here next year, to cup coffees and help out in whatever way I can.
Tomorrow we cup and then do some more visiting. What a great way to end a week of cupping in Honduras.
Ok, that’s it for me, at least for now.
