HONDURAS Ceiba FIL

In the cup

Aroma — cane sugar and dried fruit, with a warm nutty note underneath.

Taste — cane sugar up front, followed by dried fruit and red fruit; cashew and dark chocolate fill out the middle. A light spicy, vegetal undertone keeps the whole cup dry, so the sweetness never becomes too broad.

Body & acidity — full, slightly syrupy body. The acidity is soft and ripe, medium in intensity: no sharp citrus, but enough tension to keep the cup lively.

Finish — long and sweet, with chocolate and a lingering hint of spice.

Belco rated this lot at 83 points and noted its aromatics as sweet (brown sugar) · fruity (dried fruit, berry) · nutty/cocoa (cashew nut, dark chocolate) · vegetal. Great as V60 or Aeropress.

The story behind the bean

Ceiba is the name of a tree from Central America. It was sacred to the Maya — the yaxché, the world tree that connects heaven, earth, and the underworld. A fitting name for a coffee from Marcala, where the coffee plants grow beneath a canopy of shade trees.

The beans come from several small-scale producers affiliated with COMSA — Café Orgánico Marcala. The cooperative was founded in 2001, in the wake of the coffee price crisis, following an initiative by FUNDER: around sixty producers joined forces to sell their coffee together. Today, COMSA brings together more than 1,200 organically certified producers.

A quarter of its income goes to education. The cooperative founded a Montessori-inspired school open to all children in the community, with or without disabilities, and provides scholarships for further study. It also runs a local recycling program that turns plastic waste into building materials.

Marcala & agroforestry

Marcala is in the department of La Paz, in southwestern Honduras near the border with El Salvador. The region has a protected designation of origin: 19 municipalities, around 2,500 producers, and a minimum elevation of 1,100 meters. The regional profile is distinctive — medium to high acidity, plenty of body, and spicy notes.

Belco classifies these plots as agroforestry level 2, complex: more than five tree species per hectare and at least two layers of shade above the coffee. This means slower ripening, more fertile soil, and greater biodiversity in the fields.

Processing & quality

Honey process: after picking, the skin is removed, but the sugar-rich pulp stays attached to the bean as it dries on patios for twenty days. This requires constant turning and monitoring — drying too quickly sacrifices sweetness, while drying too slowly leads to fermentation. The result falls between washed and natural: more sweetness and body than a washed coffee from the same region, without losing clarity.

Physical analysis of this lot: density 714 g/l, moisture content 11.2%, water activity 0.61, screen size 15+ with 44% on screen 18.

Green beans sourced through Belco.