~Whole Bean Coffee~
Tasting Notes: Maple, Oatmeal Cookie, and Dark Chocolate
Grower: Cafes Especiales Corquin (CAFESCOR)
Variety: Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra, Ihcafe-90, Lempira, and Parainema
Region: Copán, Lempira and Ocotepeque
Process: Fully Washed and Sundried
Altitude: 1,200 to 1,700 m asl
Soil: Clay Minerals
Grower Certifications: Fair Trade and Organic
Relatively new to specialty coffee processing in western Honduras, CAFESCOR has quickly made a reputation that is turning heads. Their success begins with consistency through a centralized wet-mill that is designed to receive cherries from their 400 members. The mill floats cherries using recycled water to remove the less dense and damaged beans before depulping. After depulping, coffee is washed with a demucilager which uses very little water. Washed parchment is placed on patios to pre-dry and then is mechanically dried in horizontal dryers called guardiolas. Furnaces burn recycled coffee parchment to heat the guardiolas. Dried parchment is stored and milled in Corquin, which has mild weather conditions ideal for resting parchment and preparing coffee for export. CAFESCOR has a fully staffed cupping lab equipped to cup through every lot and ensure consistent quality. CAFESCOR has also established a number of standards required for certification including organic certification. CAFESCOR goes another step-in centralizing efforts with an organic fertilizer production plant that uses coffee pulp as the base ingredient and California earthworms to promote decomposition. An average of 3,000 pounds of organic fertilizer is produced for every hectare of coffee production. These methods allow for the producer-members to focus their attention on year-round farm management and picking the best cherries possible.
