Honduras Francis Melgar Arabica Coffee

Honduras is seeing an increase in both the quality and quantity of coffee that it grows in recent years after facing numerous setbacks including the coffee leaf-rust crisis, and extensive damage to crops during the 2020 hurricane season. It is now emerging as one of the market leaders in Central America, growing 91% Arabica coffee, and accounting for 4% of global production.

This microlot coffee comes from the Capucas Cooperative in western Honduras. The Capucas co-operative was founded in 1999 by Omar Interiano, a coffee farmer with a desire to share his knowledge of coffee growing and cultivation with neighbouring farms. Now the collective includes over 70 members, and is dedicated to growing coffee sustainably and investing in the local community.

The co-operative is based around the Celaque mountain, an area rich in biodiversity and also the highest point in the country. Celeque translates to ‘box of water’ in the local Lenca language, and is the source of many rivers and streams in the region.

This coffee is also part of DR Wakefield’s ‘project 121’ that aims to promote traceability, and better roaster-farm relationships. Each coffee sack comes with a pop-art style drawing of the farmer. Furthermore, 70% of the purchase price goes to the farmer, giving them great financial security, which is especially given the types of problems faced by the coffee farming industry in recent years, from adverse weather to crops lost to disease.

Francis Melgar, to which this coffee owes its name, runs the ‘Finca El Emperador’ coffee farm (his father was affectionately known as ‘The Emperor’ by workers on the farm), and comes from a family that has been farming coffee for 4 generations. Francis took over the farm during the difficult leaf-rust crisis in Central America. Thanks to diversifying into rust-resistant crop varieties such as Parainema and Obata, Melgar has safeguarded his farms production for the future.

This particular microlot is made exclusively from the Parainema variety, winner of the 2017 Honduran Cup of Excellence Award. Expect a beautiful harmony of flavours, with tasting notes of plum, maple syrup, blood orange, and a hint of chocolate.