HONDURAS CALAN - Espresso

If y'all remember the Brazilian Espresso, this is a very close match.

About This Coffee:

Siguatepeque lies in the central Honduran highland department of Comayagua. The area is known as one of Honduras’ biggest fruit and vegetable producing areas, thanks to the mild climate and ample rainfall. Smallholders in the mountains surrounding the lush valley around Siguatepeque produce the coffee for this specialty blend. Their farms, nestled in the Montecillos mountain range, sit at about 1,200 meters above sea level.

Honduras is a small yet mighty coffee producer. The country boasts the largest per capita coffee production in the world. Beginning in 2017, Honduras began placing in third place for Arabica production volume globally. For this slot, they compete with Ethiopia—a country 10 times larger than Honduras. The two countries trade between third and fourth place annually, but the achievement is impressive, nonetheless.

Honduras has everything it needs to become a premier specialty coffee producer. The country has the right growing conditions, abundant fertile soils and soaring altitudes (nearly all farms are at more than 1,000 meters above sea level), plus a variety of microclimates.

Beginning in the early 2000s the industry began to focus on quality. Improved infrastructure (better mechanical dryers, centralized wet mills, an increasing number of solar dryers), quality control/assurance trainings (separating lots by qualities, cupping schools, etc.), the rise of specialty-focused exporters, increased volumes of certified coffees and the strengthening cooperative movement all have worked in tandem to make Honduran coffee ‘one to watch’.

It is only in more recent years that coffee production in Honduras has reached specialty levels comparable to other Central American countries, but specialty roasters are responding with enthusiasm. In 2017, a lot in the Cup of Excellence garnered the highest price ever paid for a Cup of Excellence coffee in any country: $124.50 per pound (approximately $56.50 per kg).

Above all, while Honduras increasingly offers high end microlots, what the country arguably represents overall is exceptional value. Quality has improved massively over the last 15 years, and in addition to unique specialty lots, the country offers very solid, clean blenders at very attractive prices.

GP:

The acronym GP for coffee beans stand for Gourmet Preparation.  This is a grading term that indicates a high-quality standard for green coffee beans, with very few defects allowed.  For example, in the grading system for El Salvador, GP beans are defined as having a maximum of 3 defects.

Here's how GP compares to other common coffee preparation:

AP (America Preparation): up to 12 defects per 300g

EP (European Preparation): up to 8 defects per 300g

PP (Plus Preparation): up to 5 defects per 300g

GP (Gourmet Preparation): up to 3 defects per 300g