Honduras
Rafael Ramirez

Washed process Catuai, IHCAFE 90

Flavour: date, citrus rind, plum

Body: Acidity:

Like many coffees, the story of this origin is also that of generations within a family.

Rafael Ramirez has owned a coffee farm at a low altitude in Honduras for some years.

His son Nelson trained as an agronomist and purchased a farm at higher altitude from a friend who was forced to sell the farm after many years of bad prices in the coffee market. Nelson’s goal was to use his knowledge to produce high quality coffee, allowing his crops to earn significantly more than the commodity coffee price.

Nelson transformed the quality of the coffee coming from the farm with improved farming techniques and coffee processing, including drying and wet process. With this was able to offer a great product, helping him to connect with specialty coffee roasters around the globe.

At this stage, Rafael helped his son Nelson by taking care of the higher altitude farm. While working there, he decide to be part of the quality-focused approach, buying a section of Nelson’s farm.

Caravela (our sourcing partners in Honduras) started working with Rafael and together they separated his first crop. His new approach worked: the quality was remarkable.

Unfortunately, the following year his crop wasn’t at the same quality, lacking complexity and he couldn’t sell his crop at the premium specialty.

Meeting the challenge, Rafael focused on improving and replanting the trees on his section of the farm. In the years since, the quality of his crop has bounced back, and we’re proud to be sharing his most recent crop with you.

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer: Rafael Ramirez
Country: Honduras
Region: El Cielito, Santa Barbara
Altitude: 1550m above sea level
Varieties: Catuai, IHCAFE 90
Process: washed
Body: Medium
Acidity: Sparkling
Tasting notes: Date, citrus rind, plum
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Varieties

Catuai variety

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

IHCAFE 90 variety

Developed in the 90s by the Honduras Coffee Research Institute, IHCAFE 90 is a hybrid of Caturra and Sarchimor

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.

The Opalaca region of Honduras

Southern part of Santa Barbara falls within this region. The area is named after the Opalaca mountain range

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.