Organic Beneficio Santa Rosa Honduran
At our house we’re about halfway through the summer break. It’s been a hot week, and my kids have spent it swimming or picking blackberries, with a movie date to see Despicable Me Two thrown in. I’ve kept cool by hanging out in the office at the store, as usual. As the temperatures have increased each day this week, it has certainly felt like we’re heading into the dog days of summer. It’s perfect weather for a mocha freeze or an iced tea, and we appreciate that so many of you have stopped in!
Becky in Honduras
This week’s coffee of the week is an Organic Honduran. It is grown in the central highlands of Honduras, and it is a SHG, or strictly high-grown bean. You also see the designation SHB on coffee bags, which signifies strictly hard bean, and the two terms are fairly synonymous. They indicate that the coffee is grown at a high altitude, which leads to lower production and a denser bean–the quality and taste tend to be higher in the cup. This newsletter from our coffee broker, Knutsen Coffee, relates a story of the same bean, from the same estate, but grown at different elevations, and how the higher grown bean was unanimously selected as the favorite in a blind cupping.
Our manager Becky lived in Honduras for a semester in college (see the header picture). Her recollection of the small family farms there is of very hospitable people, who offered you hot coffee, with sugar, no matter the heat. It would be impolite to turn down their generosity, so she drank coffee everywhere she walked. She recalls coffee grown under the shade of the tall trees, with vines hanging down, and farmers roasting their own beans in a cast iron pan.
The Beneficio Santa Rosa has a great website, here, if you read Spanish. Becky (who does) greatly enjoyed reading about this processing plant/cooperative that is helping to bring these individually farmed coffees to market. If your browser will translate for you, look it up. They’re doing an amazing job of promoting and processing these coffees, and bringing a better life to these farmers.
We roasted this coffee light, and it is easy to drink, even on such a hot day. It is balanced, with a medium acidity and lingering sweet notes at the finish. Honduran high grown coffees have often been used in espresso blends, or even as a sole espresso bean. Whether you like to start your day with straight coffee, or an espresso drink, this would be a good coffee to try. Come on in and enjoy our air conditioning this weekend, and tell us what you think. You can try a cup of Organic Honduran for free by using the code tall trees*. Enjoy!
–Holly Fike