Honduras - Limoncello Lot 38

A group of smallholder farmers affiliated with Cafés Especiales Mercedes Ocotepeque (CAFESMO) pooled their harvests together to produce this lot. Their coffees are grown at an average altitude of 1350 masl alongside shade-giving cypress, liquidambar, and lamcinca trees. The loamy and clayey soil, which is rich in nutrients, allows the banana, plantain, and citrus trees planted by the farmers for additional shade, to thrive alongside the coffee plants. The variety of flora in these areas adds a particular character to their crops.

The Exporter
CAFESMO is a collective of 250+ smallholder farmers based in the Honduran coffee-growing region close to Guatemala and El Salvador.
Their coffee farms are bordered by the country’s highest peaks, Cerro Pital in the west, and the Guisayote National Reserve and the Pacayita volcano on the other side. The mountainous topography creates micro-climates beneficial to different coffees, such as Parainema, Pacas, Lempira, Catuaí, Obatá, Colombia, and IHCAFE90.
Their members’ harvests are processed in their own centralized facility, which has a wet mill, drying patios, a dry mill, and a cupping lab.

The Parainema variety is a hybrid bred for its resistance to coffee rust disease and nematodes. Previously more recognized for its resilience and yield productivity, it has been gaining more attention for good cup quality. Its commendable flavor potential was confirmed when it won in the 2017 Honduran Cup of Excellence.

The ripest cherries from the individual farmers are sorted for quality and uniformity, then processed at the CAFESMO facility. The cherries are then laid out to dry on the patio and regularly agitated for even drying, until the needed humidity level is achieved. This phase may take 20 to 30 days. Care is taken to safeguard the quality and marketability of the coffee, to avoid instances of the beans breaking if they get too dry or spoiling if they stay too moist.