Santa Barbara

This month’s subscription is part of our first release of the season from Honduras, with lots from our partner Erin Moreno. This year, we have purchased our long term favourite Parainema lot, with a crisp and bright cup, alongside a ripe and rich Pacas, both with the same anaerobic pre-fermentation protocol.

We have been impressed with many lots from the Santa Barbara region, especially over the past couple of seasons. The quality of coffee here is consistently improving, partly thanks to the work of visionaries like Benjamin Paz and his company Beneficio San Vicente in helping producers to realise the quality of their coffees, and connecting them to like-minded roasters. Santa Barbara provides some challenges to those hoping to grow high quality coffee, but this seems only to strengthen the resolve of the farmers here; the vast majority of Honduran Cup of Excellence winners have come from the region.

Erin Moreno

The Moreno family have been growing excellent quality coffee for years. Erin’s father Pedro was one of the first producers to enter the specialty coffee market in Santa Barbara, founding the coffee industry in the town of El Cedral, where the family is still based. Pedro still works on the farms occasionally, even at 90 years old.

El Cedral

We’ve visited Erin and his family in El Cedral several times. He has explained his decisions in farming, having stopped using pesticides and chemical fertilisers around 10 years ago, like many in the area. This year, a major struggle was finding labour to help with farm tasks. Many young people have left the area to find better opportunities, especially after a 2020 hurricane wrought havoc on several communities in Santa Barbara. Even Erin’s son has moved to the US, sending money home from his job as a truck driver. We purchased all of the Parainema that Erin produced this year, once again communicating its fresh floral aromas and bright acidity in the cup. For the first time, we have also purchased a small lot of Pacas, processed using the same protocol for a deep and lush fruit profile.

Parainema

Erin inherited his primary plot of the farm from Pedro, initially planted with Catimor. However, after witnessing the success of Paraneima on other parts of the farm, Erin chose to replant the entire plot soon after he took over. Parainema is a native Honduran varietal, created in response to a nematode outbreak in the mid 80’s. The Honduran Coffee Institute carefully selected from strains of Sarchimor hybrids, looking for nematode resistance, while maintaining positive attributes in the cup and a degree of disease resistance. The varietal is known to bring a heavy silky body and some slight herbal notes to the cup, alongside a notable bean size and length.

Washed Parainema

We feel the varietal characteristics are clear here, with fresh floral aromas followed by a crisp and juicy acidity. The anaerobic pre-fermentation highlights this acidity, while adding layers of complexity, especially in the finish. The herbal Parainema character softens into an almost tea-like dryness in the finish, bringing an excellent balance to the cup. To achieve this, Erin sealed Paraneima cherries in plastic bags for 48 hours, kick starting fermentation, pushing for the generation of lactic acid bacteria. From here, a more traditional washed protocol was followed, de-pulped, fermented in tanks for 18 hours, then washed with clean water several times before drying.


Coffee no.1

Washed Pacas

Erin mainly grows Parainema, but also has a small plot of Pacas further from El Cedral. This is the first time we have purchased from that plot. Erin uses the same anaerobic pre-fermentation protocol as for his Parainema, leading to a deep and lush fruit profile, with notes of ripe and blackberry and blueberry balanced by a rich brown sugar sweetness.

Coffee no.2

We’re excited to have Honduras become a bigger part of what we do, and to continue our partnerships with Erin, Fredy and the Sagastume family. Our local partner, Benjamín Paz, has connected us with several small producers in the Santa Barbara region over the past few seasons, and it’s been a privilege to meet them on their farms each year. We believe we’ve found our focus in this small group, and look forward to our next trip, coming up this spring.