For the 3rd year in a row, in our opinion this was one of the very best coffee at the 2010 Honduras Cup of Excellence although it only came in 18th place.
We are big fans of the Cup of Excellence system as we believe it’s focus on sustainability, quality and transparency is unique and we can clearly see that it works.  To find out more about the Cup of Excellence programme, visit their web page.

Cielito Lindo is situated on top of one of Honduras’ highest mountains. The soil on the farm is very rocky and sandy and the coffee trees are planted in the very steep mountain slopes. This makes it difficult to harvest the coffee and erosion during rain and keeping the soil moist during the dry periods are also issues on this farm. Fortunately there is a big lake in the bottom of the valley and because of that, every afternoon there is a cool moist breeze that showers and cools down the coffee trees and it’s cherries ensuring a long maturation for the coffee. The mountain top is also covered with clouds most of the time making the use of shade trees unnecessary for the plantation.

In May 2010 we visited Mr. Extreberto and his son that runs the Naciemento plantation below Cielito Lindo and we are allready planning a new visit in March 2011 to help refining their production techniques.

There are some pictures and a video from the visit on the bottom of this page.

Producer: Mr. Extreberto Caceres Gutierrez
Lot size: 1077 Kg
Harvest: March 2010
Origin: El Ocotillo, Santa Bárbara, Honduras.
Growing conditions: 1780 – 1850 m.a.s. No shade trees due to cool climate at high altitude.
Farm size: 7 hectars where 3 hectars is for coffee growing.
Botanical variety: Catuaí
Process: Mr. Extreberto  handpicks the cherries when they are fully ripe. After picking, the cherries are transported by horse to the farm to be pulped . After pulping, the beans are mixed with clean water from a local source and left for fermentation for about 12 hours before they are washed. The beans are then packed and Mr. Gutierrez drives the coffee for 45 minutes in order to get it dried properly at the nearest exporter’s patio.

More information about the farm can be found here.

Taste description:
Smell of blueberries and chocolate.
Ripe berrylike acidity. Juicy mouthfeel.
Long sweet finish.

2010 Honduras COE and visit to Cielito, Santa Barbara from Tim Wendelboe on Vimeo.