Honduras
El Diamante

Washed process Catuai, Caturra

Flavour: concord grape, lime, wild berries, creamy

Body:

Francisco Alvarado aquired the farm El Diamante eight years ago, and has since dedicated himself and his family to improving production techniques and the quality of their coffee harvest.

The family work hard to ensure the cherry is picked only when ripe (you can spot some unripe cherries on the photo on this page). This increases quality but greatly adds to the time and effort involved in the harvest.

In Honduras, 92% of coffee comes from small producers who traditionally pick and de-pulp their own coffee and then sell wet parchment to ‘Coyotes’, who buy directly from the farm for cash. This coffee then goes to large-scale mills and is blended with others to be exported as commercial grade bulk lots.

This traditional approach is the fastest way for a producer to receive payment, which is vital as most producers have small crops and use their coffee harvest as a key source of income. But this involves a trade-off in both quality and traceability: two of the things most important in receiving higher prices paid for speciality-grade coffee.

A new approach

Francisco and other small producers are part of a new movement of farmers who process and dry their own coffee. They invest more in maintenance of their washing tanks and equipment, and build their own raised beds.

These farmers aim to increase the quality of coffee in Honduras, and with that also raise the amount of ‘Specialty Grade’ coffee exported from Honduras from the 1% it is today.

We’re excited to support this new era of coffee production in Honduras, and to bring you harvests from these small farmers and their families.

Something familiar?

As part of that support for the new wave of specialty coffee in Honduras, this is the second year we’ve featured Francisco’s harvest from El Diamante for Brew Crew: we featured the previous harvest in July 2015.

Sourcing and ingredients

100% Catuai, Caturra coffee beans, provided by Silo and roasted by us on Gadigal land / Sydney.

Country grade: Unknown ?

Packaging

Bag: ABA Certified home compostable
Label: Recyclable
Valve (on bags larger than 250g): General waste
Coffee ordered online is shipped in a recyclable cardboard box

Brewing this coffee

We recommend brewing this coffee 15–49 days post-roast. If pre-ground, brew as soon as possible. Our advice on storing coffee.

1:3
dose:yield
ratio

To brew on espresso, we recommend using 20g of beans (dose) to get 60g of espresso out (yield), during 24-28 seconds.

g dose

g yield

View the how to brew espresso (single origin) guide.

1:16.7
beans:water
ratio

To brew in infusion/fed brewers (V60, Chemex) use a ratio of 1:16.7 ratio of beans:water.

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:14.3
beans:water
ratio

To brew in immersion brewers (plunger, AeroPress, Kalita, batch brewer) we recommend using a 1:14.3 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:12
beans:water
ratio

To brew as cold brew we recommend using a 1:12 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

Producer: Francisco Alvarado
Country: Honduras
Region: Poso Negro, Masaguaro
Altitude: 1600 – 1650m above sea level
Varietals: Catuai, Caturra
Process: washed
Harvested: December 2015
Body: Medium
Acidity: Medium-low
Tasting notes: Concord grape, lime, wild berries, creamy
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Varietals

Catuai varietal

Created by the Instituto Agronomico do Campinas in Brasil, Catuai is a hybrid varietal between Caturra and Mundo Novo.

Caturra varietal

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon that was originally discovered in Brazil in 1937, considered to be the first naturally occurring mutation ever discovered.

The location

Coffee from Honduras

The largest producer of coffee in Central America and one of our favourite coffee producing nations, capable of producing fruit driven coffees with a great, vibrant acidity.

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.