Honduras is a fascinating coffee origin that has, like the turtle, taken its own sweet time to really become engaged with the specialty industry.
Varietal: Catuai
Region: Marcala / Mogola
Altitude: 1550-1670 m
Harvest: January - March Characteristics
Acidity: Balanced
Flavor: Tamarind, dates, mango
Finish: Puncuated, crisp Tasting Notes
La Tortuga burgeons with personality. Predominant notes of tangy tamarind lay the foundation for mango and dates to dance on the tongue. The acidity is marked by citrus fruits such as ripe tangerine and clementine that complement a smooth milk chocolate body. The refreshingly crisp finish happily punctuates the taste experience urging just one more sip. Geoff Watts' Notes
Honduras is a fascinating coffee origin that has, like the turtle (“La Tortuga”), taken its own sweet time to really become engaged with the Specialty industry. Honduran coffee has for decades taken a backseat to its better-known neighbor Guatemala. The conditions for greatness have existed all along, but it took the momentum of the Specialty industry, in tandem with technical assistance efforts on the ground and quality competitions like the Cup of Excellence, to successfully bring Honduran coffee out of the shadows and into the spotlight. We could not be happier about this!
We launched the La Tortuga mark after purchasing a coffee lot in the 2004 Cup of Excellence auction. Since that time we’ve become good friends with the whole Caballero family and have been digging into the coffees in much greater detail than before, separating and evaluating very small batches to locate the ones with the best tastes and sweetness.
In 2006 Intelligentsia contracted the exclusive rights to the annual coffee production of Fabio Caballero’s “La Tina” farm. This is the first farm Don Fabio owned, which he inherited from his mother in law. The land first entered the family in 1930, making it their only 3rd generation farm parcel. The original heirloom Typica and Bourbon planted on the farm have maintained its genetic purity, which Don Fabio believes adds to its quality. It also has the historic privilege as being the first coffee farm in Mogola region of Honduras.
La Tina farm is one of the highest farms in Honduras, at over 5,400 feet. The views are breathtaking from there, and there is no doubt that this piece of land is a wonderful place to grow coffee. Of course, growing the coffee is really just one step in many that lead to a great cup. The preservation of the quality that nature produced is as important in the equation as the actual growth. The sequence of events that happen beginning the moment that the cherry leaves the tree help to define the difference between an “artisan coffee farmer” and a “harvester”.
Don Fabio and his son-in-law Moises Herrerra are artisan farmers. The reason they’ve had so much success in comparison to many of their neighbors has less to do with the quality of the land than it does the quality of the worksmanship and the amount of investment that the Caballero family has been willing to make in their coffee operation. The fact that they do their own wet-milling gives them an advantage as well. They have the ability to control quality all the way to dry parchment. And despite a lot of historic debt they continue to deal with, they have shown that they understand what it takes to produce greatness year in and year out. The list below is just a few of the things they’ve done at the farm in the last two years:
- Tile-lined all their fermentation tanks and washing channels improving cleanliness
- Installed an experimental coffee cherry sorter, allowing for mature cherry selection
- Added a tub channel to their lower drying patio increasing the efficiency
- Fenced in their patio drying space which prevents animals from contaminating the coffee
- Added a new sediment tank to improve their ecological footprint
- Fixed their third mechanical dryer to increase their drying capacity
- Spruced up their wet mill with a new paint job and ornamental plants
- Fertilized their Tina farm 4 times, ensuring a healthy harvest
- Added 10 varieties of shade trees to their nursery for future replanting
- Added a workers’ lunch room/resting spot at the mill
This is the most pro-active quality investing application we have ever seen!
I have sampled coffees from several other members of the extended Caballero family and walked away from the cupping table thrilled each time. Apparently, many others have shared my delight in the character of the coffee; the families have met with incredible success recently, taking home a collective 13 Cup of Excellence awards in the last three years! It’s official…Hondo has arrived. Yet another reason to believe the old adage: slow and steady wins the race.
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