The Region

Since 2018 we have been working with characterful and vibrant coffees from Honduras’ Intibucá region. Spending time with Rony of RAGA coffee, alongside our importing partners Nordic Approach, our first time cupping in Honduras highlighted a lot of Bourbon coffee produced by Dely Suyapa Matute Ramirez, and led to us visiting her the very next day. We’ve endeavoured to buy Dely’s coffee every year since.

The Producer 

Dely and her family are warm and welcoming people. When we visited with them, they were hospitable and open. The farmhouse is located close to the coffee trees and their secadores (polytunnels for drying coffee). Finca Las Manzanas was established around 2010, being planted out with Bourbon, Catuaí and Lempira across a single hectare. Dely has implemented a system to keep the varieties separate for processing, which is why we’ve been able to secure this lot comprised of entirely Bourbon. 

 Next door to her farm is her husband’s, and then her son and daughter also have farms nearby, named El Durazno and La Bonita. She has six children in total, and the whole family is working in coffee production, helping each other out when it comes to harvest time. 

 Dely is a hospitable lady, passionate about producing high quality coffee, and was proud to show us some of her certificates from placing in the Honduras Cup of Excellence competition in past years. 

Their Approach

Once harvested, Dely checks the Brix of the coffee cherries, a way to measure the sugar concentration, which she relies on as indicative of the ripeness of the parcel of fruit, subsequently adjusting her fermentation periods to ensure optimal processing from picking to picking.

We saw a range from 24 to 40 hours of dry fermentation on the sheets Dely showed us, used to log the processing data from each batch of coffee. Timing the fermentation is very important, as well as using a thermometer and pH reader to measure the progress of the fermentation in more detail and along more parameters than time alone. 

We’re thrilled to share this Bourbon selection from Finca Las Manzanas with you, and hope you enjoy its vibrant, juicy, and tingly characteristics.