Honduras Bella Vista Honey

Alex Ponce grew up helping his father on the family coffee farm, getting his hands dirty and learning about coffee at a very young age. Alex worked throughout his early 20's at a clothing factory until his uncle presented him with the opportunity to purchase a farm in the La Paz department where he grew up. Alex dove right in, planting coffee on the steep hillsides of Finca Bella Vista, his new 2.45-hectare property. Alex owns two farms that are about 25 miles apart in this area – Palo Verde and Finca Bella Vista. You might remember our Palo Verde coffee from last year. As mentioned, Finca Bella Vista is located in the La Paz department of Honduras at high elevations around 1,750 MASL. There is a microclimate that is formed here, and Alex says one of his biggest challenges is the lower yields produced because of the colder temperatures high up on the mountain. Though colder temperatures at higher elevations usually means one thing to me, higher quality! We've purchased a honey processed lot and a natural processed lot from Finca Bella Vista this year, we are releasing the honey process first.

This honey processed coffee is picked and depulped on the same day. The coffee is then laid out to dry in the mucilage for up to 22 days, which is plenty of time to slowly dry and absorb those sweet flavors from pulpy mucilage into the seeds. While the coffee is drying it is consistently being raked and turned over to ensure even drying. When done well, honey processing can produce very balanced and sweet flavors. Not quite as fruit-forward as a natural, but usually sweeter than a fully washed coffee.