This Yellow Bourbon from Honduras courtesy of De La Finca Importers is direct trade, organic and bird friendly. De La Finca's 92 hour anaerobic fermentation was carefully developed to give their coffees juicy sweetness without introducing any harsh, vinegary flavors. The result is a sweet, clean cup that's full-bodied with a creamy texture and big notes of raspberry, grape juice, strawberry and watermelon.
De La Finca is an importer as well as a producer and this offering is from one of their own farms in Marcala, La Paz, Honduras. That means it’s direct trade from them to your hands. De la Finca started in 2013 and is family-owned and operated, now with 22 family members who are a part of the farming process. Nelson Amador (co-founder of De la Finca Honduras along with his cousin Joel Banegas Sr.) is a fifth generational coffee farmer and he started De La Finca Importers “with the intention of supporting his family and other small coffee producers from his home country of Honduras while also actively building partnerships with roasters around the USA”. You can read more about their vision for the company in the farm bio. Now, let’s talk more about this coffee!
This coffee has A LOT going for it. It’s single varietal, yellow bourbon, it’s an anaerobic fermented natural and it’s organic and bird friendly to boot! A quick overview on the 72-hour fermentation process – after the cherries are harvested, then they’re put into burlap bags to ferment for 24 hours, then transferred to barrels where they are completely cut off from oxygen for 48 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 sweet and juicy without any of the harsh, vinegary flavors associated with less thoughtful anaerobic processes. This year’s harvest features big notes of raspberry, white grape, strawberry and cocoa powder. 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 huge body, creamy texture, and a fairly clean finish. Compared to last year’s crop, we found this cup less intense and a bit more rounded. It’s less “in-your-face” and more refined. An excellent introduction for folks who want to try an anaerobic natural but don’t want an over the top experience! And for such an intense processing method, this coffee is also surprisingly forgiving in the roaster.Reminder! This coffee is raw, you must roast it before brewing
Arrival Date:Arrival: June 2026. Harvest season: 2026, packed in GrainPro
Acidity & Brightness: Fairly bright and sweet
Balance & Finish: Moderately balanced and fairly clean finish
Body & Texture: Very full and rich with a creamy texture
Flavors: Raspberry, white grape, strawberry & cocoa powder
Grade: SHG-EP, grown at 1450 masl
Certifications:Direct trade, Organic & Bird friendly
Processing: Double anaerobic fermentation natural process: Fermented for 92 hours, then transferred to barrels cut off from oxygen for 48 hours. Afterwards, left to dry on raised African beds.
Grower: De La Finca Coffee | DLF Marcala
Region: San Jose, Marcala, Honduras
Varietals: Yellow bourbon
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, while medium roasts will lose brightness in favor of body as well as bringing out more rounded sweetness. For such an intense processing, this coffee is surprisingly forgiving in the roaster!
De La Finca Coffee - "In the spirit of learning and innovation, we bought a small 9 acre farm in the fall of 2019 on the outskirts of Marcala, La Paz, Honduras.
Our intention behind this expansion is three-fold:
1) To expand our expertise in Honduran coffees. Our family’s coffee farms are primarily located in the Comayagua region (about 3 hours away). With Marcala, La Paz being the hub of specialty coffee in Honduras, a farm in the area opens both our operations and insight in a strategic location in the coffee community of our home country.
2) To experiment with new processes and production methods. The property gives us room for research and experimentation without tampering with our own family’s production. We bought this property as an experimental specialty farm to be separate from our own family farms and experiment with different production and processing methods.
3) To innovate, implement, and teach best practices in the industry. We want to use this farm as both an experimental and an example farm — a place where we can innovate, implement and then train other producers not only in what we’re learning in terms of production but also in terms of operations. For example, many producers pay low wages to pickers and have difficulty finding workers when harvest time comes. By paying higher wages to our pickers and employing workers year round, we can lead by example and hopefully see an impactful and significant shift in our industry.
Overall rating: 4.6 / 5 from 18 reviews.
I’ve been ordering from the Captain’s Coffee for years, this is probably one of my most favorites in recent memory. Not sure what the roast level is here so I’m leaving a picture. It seems to be medium. Very complex, nutty chocolate with a subtle fruity layer. Thanks David!
Excellent!! Yes. A very aromatic bean. I prefer dark roast, but this is suggested best roasted light to medium. I roasted about half medium and half dark. Both turned out fantastic. I drink my coffee black, but both roasts had a fruity sweetness that made for a smooth sip.
Very aromatic, red wine. Taste is great. Still letting it rest more before perfectly dialing in.
Marcala is one of my favorite beans from Captain's. It has a strong character from the long fermentation hours. I typically roast this bean at 75 to 90 seconds after the first crack. With a KINU hand grinder, I will grind it quite fine, such as at 1 turn and 7 mark, to bring out the full body sweetness with a bright acidity but little or no bitterness. I am not into the so called tea like thin body coffee with coarse grinding.
Best Coffee Beans around!!
The best place in NC or the US to buy high quality green coffee beans at reasonable prices. My favorite is the 72 hours fermented, double fermented, Marcala beans. So so good! However, be careful with the roasting level. I found roasting at 1 minute and 10 seconds after the 1st crack is the best for my drip coffee. The weight loss is at -13%. I use 20g for 200 cc coffee. I savor every drop. The Captain's carries many other high quality coffee beans and I have tried many. Their Honduras beans are among the best.
Great coffee! Somebody mentioned that it has kind of an apple flavor to it – I agree! I am thoroughly enjoying this coffee!
Well what can I say that is just an awesome coffee smooth non acidic I just Love it some much better than store bough Coffee
this is so so good. roasted light and rested for 2 weeks. lovely fruit flavor and a tiny bit of funk which i personally love.
Delicious, very gourmet tasting. I did a light roast
Dissapointed after 2 8oz roasts to about city+. Dropped while still a few cracks and about 20f development. I do not get any fruit so far which was what I was hoping for when I bought 5#. Beans look quite different than regular greens - tan and darker brown mottled, not green, so I guess that is the anarobic processing. First crack started later than usual in my drum roaster. Back in late 2022 I got the Honduras Marcala Proyecto Cabañas Natural which was wonderful, so I was hoping these beans might be similar but sadly not even close. I have roasted for 15+ years and done anarobics before that were very good. Guess I will let these rest for a couple weeks but after 4 days am not happy. Will try a very light roast next and drop maybe 1min into 1C but I don't expect to get anything much better however.
Underwhelming. Had much better berry note beans from natural Ethiopian beans.
Excellent!
This is very aromatic coffee and has a lot going on in the cup. This is a must-try for home roasters.
It’s very good 👍. I have a preference to my taste buds when I drink coffee. I like a PANG… WOW… on the first sip… then a smooth finish, if that makes sense. This has a PANG that lasts a lot longer, but once you take a few sips , you seem to adjust. It’s just a very good flavor if you are a coffee lover.,
This coffee is great! It roasted evenly to a just darker than cinnamon color. My brain is too literal to grasp descriptions like "juicy" but I totally get sweet and fruity as part of this coffees description. The fermented bit is interesting, double fermented is double interesting. In contrast to some of the Ethiopian coffees which have a citrus brightness, this has a brightness in a different way. Not vinegar, more like a just picked strawberries brightness. Very nice.
Beans are great. True to anaerobic processing they are bright and have acidity. The fruit flavor notes are spot on. A rare watermelon flavor is noted in the black coffee in my city + roast. For me this bean cracked about ten degrees later than normal so I adjusted my final end temp accordingly and still maintained the brightness. There are no acetic or vinegar tastes associated with the process method to be found here which is a huge plus. If you want a fruit forward coffee this one is great. Probably best for someone with some roasts under their belt before attempted but a beginner with a thermometer reading they trust could do fine with this coffee. The sweet spot is wide and it is quite a tasty coffee in all of the brewing applications I have tried (city+, cold brew, espresso, pour over, aeropress)
Lovely and clean
