Practical pieces for roasters. We write about the regulation when it bites, about the varieties and the mountains behind the lots, and about the methodology we trust. Short, specific, and signed.
Why a 2010 Zamorano release became our mountain workhorse.
Parainema is a Catimor-derived variety released in Honduras in 2010. It is roya-resistant, high-yielding, and in the cup it carries more than its agronomy would suggest. Here is how we work with it, from washed to red honey.
Why altitude is only half the story in Honduran terroir.
Montecillos sits in La Paz. Opalaca sits in Intibucá. They share a similar altitude band and a very different cup. Soil, humidity, varietal mix, and the human factor at the mill all explain the gap. We walk through them.
A practical note on our evaluation protocol, from Honduras to Paris.
We cup three times before a lot joins the catalog: at origin with the cooperative, on landing in Le Havre, and in Paris with invited roasters. Here is what we look for, what we discard, and why the third cupping is public.
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