Dear coffee subscriber,
The first coffees harvested from the 2023/2024 harvest have finally arrived and they are tasting fresh and delicious. I visited the Caballero family in March earlier this year where I tasted and selected the lots we wanted to buy from them. As always I was able to taste through individual pickings of many different cultivars from their many small farms and I selected the ones I liked the most. Marysabel and Moises always pick, process and dry the coffees they offer me specifically after a protocol we have agreed upon. It means the coffee goest through a lot more sorting and careful drying to ensure the very best quality is maintained.
They do not produce all their coffees like this as sadly the majority of their clients are not willing to pay the price it costs for the extra work. However Moises says that they would not have the capacity either to process all their coffees the way they do it for us. It is a bit like when you visit a winery, they produce both table wine and grand cru wine.) We feel fortunate to be able to select from the top shelf from these renowned producers in Honduras and I really hope you will enjoy these coffees.
Happy summer holidays to all of you.
Caballero Catuaí (1st & 4th bag)
Flavour notes
Herbal, dark chocolate & dried fruits
Producer
Marysabel Caballero & Moises Herrera
Harvest
January – February 2024
Origin
Chinacla, La Paz, Honduras
Process
Washed
Cultivar
Catuaí
Marysabel and Moises produce a lot of the Catuaí cultivar, but not all lots are produced the same way. Some are dried on patios and others in mechanical driers or on raised beds under shade. Since I started buying coffee from the Caballeros, I have gradually developed a protocol in cooperation with Moises and Marysabel on how to separate, process and especially dry and store the coffees we buy from them. They are now producing a lot of Catuaí coffees following these protocols that is especially separated for us to choose from.
All the lots we buy are dried on raised beds in shade and are hand sorted and milled with extreme care and attention. It really makes a difference in the final cup. In fact Moises was the one who let me experiment with shade dried coffee in the first place and we found that the green coffee will stay fresh for a longer time and taste much cleaner than the patio or mechanically dried coffees they produce. (In later years the Caballeros have adapted some of these principles and by that managed to increase the quality and shelf life of their mechanically dried coffees too.)
Caballero SL28 (2nd & 5th bag)
Flavour notes
Herbal, red berries & chocolate
Producer
Marysabel Caballero & Moises Herrera
Harvest
January – February 2024
Origin
Chinacla, La Paz, Honduras
Process
Washed
Cultivar
SL28
Most of you know that the SL28 cultivar is commonly grown in Kenya and a big reason why Kenyan coffees are so fruity and intense. Still, we have found that when planted in other countries, the profile can change quite a bit. Like the SL28 from Finca Tamanna in Colombia, the SL28 from Marysabel and Moises are quite subtle in the flavour profile. I can still taste flavours of red berries, and delicate floral notes but they are not as intense as in the SL28 coffee from Jobneel and his farm Nacimiento further north in Honduras. This year the Caballero’s SL28 coffee has a juicy mouthfeel with herbal and red berry notes with a chocolaty finish.
Caballero San Isidro (3rd & 6th bag)
Flavour notes
Floral, citrus & stone fruits
Producer
Marysabel Caballero & Moises Herrera
Harvest
January – February 2024
Origin
San Isidro, La Paz, Honduras
Process
Washed
Cultivar
Geisha, Batian, SL28 & Catuaí
Marysabel and Moises have bought some land in San Isidro, a different area to where their other farms are located. Here they planted several different cultivars to see if they could grow some exceptional coffees. The altitude is around 1700 m.a.s.l. which means the coffee grows in a cool climate that hopefully will bring more flavour intensity to the coffees. This is the first harvest from this land and as the quantities were really small they decided to pick and blend all the cultivars together. That means this coffee is a so called «field blend» that consists of Catuaí, Geisha, SL28 and Batian. In my experience every cup can taste slightly different but mostly I find the coffee to be a bit more delicate compared to the other coffees we are sending out this month. I get flavours of flowers, citrus and stone fruits with a more tea like mouthfeel and a citrusy acidity.