Honduras Comayagua Finca La Esmeralda Anaerobic Natural Organic
We’ve got another stellar offering from De La Finca’s newest project farm in the Comayagua region of Honduras, so it’s direct trade straight from them to your hands. The idea behind their expansion with this farm is to represent the little-known area of La Sampedrana. The region is perfect for coffee cultivation with its high altitude, volcanic soil and rich culture. They’re also focusing their efforts on more experimental processing of specialty lots like geisha, pink bourbon, and parainema (coming down the pipeline in future harvests) and want more quality control and consistency on a larger scale.
From our perspective, It’s a strange phenomenon to see Honduras so underrepresented in the specialty coffee market despite being the 5th largest coffee exporting country in the world. For comparison, Brazil is 1st, Colombia is 3rd and Ethiopia is just behind Honduras in 6th. That’s why it’s exciting to see what De La Finca is doing to represent their home country of Honduras along with their involvement of family in the process, and their desire to be innovative with coffee processing methods. Now, let’s talk more about this coffee!
Since Finca la Esmeralda is a base for DLF’s experimental processing testing, it’s no surprise this coffee is a double fermentation anaerobic natural. For this offering, a select blend of Caturra and Typica cherries undergo a 19-hour fermentation process. After the cherries are harvested, they’re put into GrainPro bags to ferment for 7 hours, then transferred to barrels where they’re completely cut off from oxygen for 12 hours. This is the anaerobic portion of the fermentation. Afterwards, they are left to dry on raised African beds. The result is a cup that’s intensely sweet and fruity without any of the harsh, vinegary flavors associated with less thoughtful anaerobic processes. We tasted big notes of watermelon, grape, raspberry, and honeydew. There’s also a fairly bright acidity coming from the fruity flavors as well. As you’d expect from a natural, it’s moderately balanced with full-body, creamy texture, and a fairly clean finish. If you liked our previous double ferment from DLF (which was a 72-hour double ferment), we found this offering to be very similar! Notably the intensity on this shorter fermentation is slightly dialed back for a cup that’s a bit smoother and more “chuggable”. Think of it as a daily driver for folks who like fruity naturals!
Reminder! This coffee is raw, you must roast it before brewing
Arrival Date: August 25, 2023. Harvest year: 2023, Packed in GrainPro
Acidity & Brightness: Fairly bright and very sweet
Balance & Finish: Moderately balanced with a clean finish
Body & Texture: Full bodied and creamy texture
Flavors: Watermelon, honeydew, grape, raspberry and milk chocolate
Grade: SHG-EP, grown at 1750 masl
Certifications: Direct trade, Organic & Bird friendly
Processing: Double fermentation anaerobic natural - Cherries are first fermented in grainpro bags for seven hours, then transferred to fermentation barrels, where they're anaerobically fermented for twelve hours. Lastly, they're dried on raised African beds.
Grower: De La Finca Coffee | Finca la Esmeralda
Region: La Sampedrana, Comayagua, Honduras
Varietals: Caturra & Typica
Recommended Roast Range: City to Full City (Light to Medium)
We like this coffee best at City + (light-medium, at the tail end of 1st crack), but it will perform well nearly anywhere in the Light to Medium spectrum. Lighter roasts accent bright acidity and fresh fruit, while medium roasts will trade a bit of brightness for body as well as bringing out more rounded, jammy sweetness.
De La Finca Coffee - "La Esmeralda is a new DLF Project Farm in the Comayagua region. We bought this farm in 2021 in order to continue experimental processing in the area. La Sampedrama is an under-promoted area in the Comayagua region with high altitude, volcanic soil, and is rich in culture. We wanted a farm in the area where we could have more control over the quality and consistency on larger experimental specialty lots including varietals like geisha, pink bourbon, parainema which we've planted and will be coming in the next few years.”
