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The Story of Honduras Sweet Orange Estate Catuai Coffee Beans and Pour-Over Characteristics

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, For professional barista discussions, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). Many people may not know that Honduras has an astonishing coffee production volume. After 2011, Honduras surpassed Guatemala to become the world's 7th largest coffee-producing country (Guatemala...

Honduras is located in northern Central America. Compared to its neighboring countries Guatemala and Nicaragua, Honduras' coffee industry developed relatively late, but it has shown strong momentum to catch up. In 2011, its coffee production surpassed that of Guatemala. After comparing coffee beans from several Central American countries, FrontStreet Coffee found that they all share a common flavor characteristic: floral and fruity notes with soft juice-like tones.

Some might say that not every country has its unique flavor characteristics, and that's true. When FrontStreet Coffee introduces each country, we first highlight the coffee flavor characteristics of that country to help readers remember them. However, one thing to note is that national borders are boundaries drawn by people themselves, and coffee beans don't immediately change their flavor just because they cross a border. Having commonality doesn't mean lacking uniqueness. Each country has its own focus. Take Africa as an example: African coffee beans are characterized by fruity acidity, which is a commonality among most African countries. However, each country has its own emphasis: Ethiopia's acidity is bright and clear, Kenya's acidity is intense and bright, Rwanda's acidity is less intense than Kenya's but richer than Ethiopia's...

Returning to Honduras, although its coffee flavor may be similar to neighboring countries, Honduran coffee beans are characterized by exotic spice elements in their aroma, with a rich nutty and chocolate sensation in the aftertaste, presenting an overall balanced and layered performance.

Honduras Geography

Honduras is a mountainous country located in northern Central America. It borders the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Gulf of Fonseca in the Pacific Ocean to the south. It shares borders with Nicaragua and El Salvador to the southeast and Guatemala to the west. More than three-quarters of its territory consists of mountains and plateaus. Mountain ranges extend from west to east, with volcanic plateaus inland, many intermontane valleys, and coastal plains. The climate is tropical, with coastal plains having a tropical rainforest climate. Honduras has excellent coffee growing conditions, including microclimates, altitude, soil, and abundant rainfall.

Not only is Honduras the largest coffee producer in Central America, but if only washed Arabica beans are counted, Honduras is actually the world's second-largest producer of washed Arabica beans. In the early 21st century, Honduran coffee surpassed bananas to become the country's most important cash crop. Banana production was dominated by large American companies, but coffee cultivation is done by small farmers. Honduras currently has 110,000 coffee farmers, and manual harvesting of coffee cherries is the main harvesting method, with the harvesting season running from November to March each year.

Honduras Coffee Story Development

Coffee was first introduced to Honduras by Spanish merchants in the late 18th century. By 1804, Honduras was already cultivating coffee on a small scale. In fact, there were historical reasons for the late start of Honduras' coffee development: the lack of transportation infrastructure connecting production areas with ports, which prevented Honduras' coffee industry from developing.

However, after 1970, the government established the official coffee institution Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE) specifically for coffee, dedicated to improving coffee quality. Combined with the fact that coffee trees can be grown throughout Honduras, this allowed Honduras' coffee production to surpass Costa Rica and Guatemala in 2011. In 1975, Brazil suffered from frost damage, causing a sharp decline in coffee production. Honduras took this opportunity to "rise to prominence," with coffee production surging from 500,000 bags to 1.8 million bags, all of which were quickly snapped up. Since then, Honduras' coffee production has truly developed.

In the 1990s, specialty coffee emerged in Central America. Other countries competed with quality, while Honduras lagged behind in coffee quality. The main reason was that during the green bean processing process, due to abundant and irregular rainfall in mountainous areas, the final drying stage was affected.

In 2004, Honduras held its first Cup of Excellence competition, where 21 coffees from across the country received recognition and participated in online auctions.

In 2011, Honduras became the highest coffee-producing country in Central America and the world's second-largest Arabica coffee producer.

Today, Honduras has become one of the world's top ten coffee-producing countries and the world's second-largest Arabica coffee producer. Coffee has played an important role in its economy and national development. Honduras has 280,000 hectares of coffee plantations, mostly small coffee farms, most of which are smaller than 3.5 hectares. These coffee plantations account for 60% of Honduras' total coffee production.

Honduras Coffee Grades

By Growing Altitude

Strictly High Grown (SHG): Above 1200 meters
High Grown (HG): 1000-1200 meters
Central Standard (CS): 600-1000 meters

By Defect Rate

American Standard USP, US preparation; European Standard EP Euro preparation.

Meaning and rules of Honduran green coffee bean names: Honduras SHG EP (Country + Altitude Grade + Defect Standard)

Honduras Coffee Regions

Starting from 2007, Honduras strengthened its origin labeling system, dividing coffee origins into six main regions:

1. Copán Region

Location: Located in western Honduras, bordering Guatemala, including parts of Copán, Ocotepeque, Cortés, Santa Bárbara, and Lempira departments.

Altitude: 1,000 - 1,500 meters

Temperature: 11.5-22.5℃

Precipitation: 1300-2300 mm

Harvest: November - March

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras Las Gemelas Estate

Region: Copán

Estate: Las Gemelas

Altitude: 1250m

Variety: Red Catuai

Processing Method: Natural

Flavor: Brown sugar, berries, raisins, fermented wine aroma

2. Opalaca Region

Location: Located between Santa Bárbara, Intibucá, and Lempira areas.

Altitude: 1100-1500 meters

Temperature: 11.5-22.5℃

Precipitation: 1400-1950 mm

Harvest Season: November - February

Varieties: Bourbon, Typica, Catuai, Pacas

Flavor: Very delicate acidity, overall balanced performance, with prominent tropical fruit flavors such as grapes and blackberries.

3. Montecillos

Location: Located in La Paz, Comayagua, Santa Bárbara, and Intibucá, bordering El Salvador in southwestern Honduras.

Altitude: 1200-1600 meters

Temperature: 12-21.2℃

Precipitation: 1300-2300 mm

Harvest Season: November - April

Varieties: Bourbon, Catuai, Typica

Flavor: Bright and lively acidity with orange and peach flavors, long aftertaste, velvety mouthfeel.

4. Comayagua

Location: Located in central Honduras, including Comayagua and Francisco Morazán.

Altitude: 1,000 - 1,500 meters

Temperature: 14.0 - 22.0℃

Precipitation: 1350 - 1700 mm

Varieties: Bourbon, Caturra, Typica, Pacas

Harvest Season: December - March

Flavor: Predominantly lemon-flavored, with obvious sweet fruit aroma, creamier mouthfeel, citrus sweetness, and sweet and chocolate notes.

5. Agalta Tropical

Location: Located in southeastern Honduras, including Olancho and Yoro.

Altitude: 1000-1400 meters

Temperature: 14.5-22.5℃

Precipitation: 1300-1950 mm

Harvest Season: December - March

Varieties: Bourbon, Catuai, Typica

Flavor: Honey fragrance and aroma, with strong citrus flavors and subtle yet distinct acidity.

6. El Paraíso

Location: Located in southern Honduras, including El Paraíso, bordering Nicaragua.

Altitude: 1100-1500 meters

Temperature: 16-22.5℃

Precipitation: 1000-1400mm

Harvest Season: December - March

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras El Paraiso Washed Parainema

Coffee Region: El Paraiso

Growing Altitude: 1400 meters

Coffee Variety: Parainema

Processing Method: Washed

Coffee Grade: SHG

Flavor: Citrus, berries, grapefruit peel, nuts and dark cocoa aftertaste when cooled, prominent berry acidity, tea-like notes

In addition to the 6 main coffee regions above, there are some smaller regions. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce the El Naranjo Estate from the La Paz region in southwestern Honduras.

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras · El Naranjo Estate Catuai

Region: Marcala

Altitude: 1425 meters

Variety: Catuai

Processing: Washed

Flavor: Citrus, melon, floral notes, sucrose, orange peel, nuts, tea-like notes

El Naranjo Estate

El Naranjo Estate is located in Marcala, belonging to the La Paz region. The coffee produced here can be compared to that from another Honduran region, Santa Bárbara.

The estate is named after its shade trees - the shade trees of El Naranjo Estate are tall wild orange trees.

Currently, the estate grows Catuai, Caturra, Bourbon, and Geisha varieties. The beans we tried this time are Catuai.

Catuai is a coffee variety artificially hybridized from Caturra and Mundo Novo, with good resistance to natural disasters, especially wind and rain. Catuai trees are relatively short, and compared to other coffee trees, Catuai fruits grow more firmly and are not easy to harvest.

Roasting Recommendations

The roasting machine is a Yangjia Feima 800N from Taiwan, with a 300-gram batch size. FrontStreet Coffee uses a medium roast approach.

Charge Temperature: 200℃
Yellowing Point: 5'15", 154℃
First Crack: 9'11", 186.5℃
Development after First Crack: 2'00", discharged at 192.4℃

Coffee Cupping and Brewing Report

Dry Aroma: Spices, roasted peanuts, chocolate

Wet Aroma: Fresh herbal notes

Taste: Orange peel, nuts, cream, lemon tea

Brewing Recommendations

The brewing parameters used by FrontStreet Coffee are:

Filter: Hario V60
Water Temperature: 90℃
Coffee Dose: 15 grams
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Standard 20-mesh sieve pass rate 80%

Brewing Method

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction. Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds. When pouring to 125g with a small circular flow, segment the pour. Continue pouring to 225g when the water level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed. Remove the filter when the water level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed (timing starts from blooming). Total extraction time: 2'00".