Honduras | La Paz, Comayagua | What are the flavor profiles of sun-dried Bourbon and Catura from Small Tree Estate?

Honduras | Comayagua | San Sebastian | El Retoño Natural Bourbon & Caturra Flavor Profile

Located in a mountainous region 50 kilometers southwest of the town of La Paz, this is a dry but cool remote area. As the elevation climbs beyond 1,500 meters, many coffee farms with great potential appear. El Retoño, which recently won an award at the 2015 Cup of Excellence, sits deep in this mountainous region on a relatively high small mountain. The farm entrance sits at an elevation of 1,720 meters, with several plots on flatter slopes, while two plots behind the processing station extend toward the 2,000-meter mountain peak. The coffee trees are planted on steep slopes reaching 1,800 meters!

El Retoño belongs to the Comayagua region, specifically San Sebastian town, situated at 1,780 meters elevation. The farm owner, Suyapa Leticia Argueta Suazo, believes that although the varieties grown here are susceptible to pests and diseases, with double the care, high-quality specialty coffee can be produced. The high altitude of the farm certainly contributes significantly! Several years ago, Jose Luis Suazo Rodriguez's mother handed El Retoño over to the young couple to manage. Because of the birth of their son Luis, they named the farm El Retoño ("The Little Tree"). Through years of effort, they have acquired additional small coffee forests, increasing production. Suyapa received significant technical assistance from the Honduran Coffee Institute IHCAFE, and now uses soil analysis to determine which fertilizers to apply each season, helping the coffee trees get proper nutrients and resist pests and diseases. She hopes to continuously improve cultivation techniques and wet mill processing, allowing El Retoño to consistently produce specialty coffee and establish a firm footing in the international market.

This year marked Suyapa's first participation in the Cup of Excellence competition, and the entire preparation process was a beautiful and deeply inspiring experience, enough to encourage other Honduran coffee farmers to submit their finest batches for competition! This award-winning batch (2015 CoE 13th place) is a sun-dried natural Bourbon and Caturra. The dry aroma of the light roast features hazelnut and cashew notes, bringing out elegant red wine fragrance and honey sweetness, with some sweet red grape notes. The wet aroma has more pronounced fruit acidity, such as cherry, blackcurrant, and raisin, with excellent toffee sweetness! The cup overflows with sweetness, with a silky smooth texture, featuring dried apricot, cherry, longan, blackcurrant, and raisin sweetness, and a hazelnut chocolate aftertaste. As the coffee cools, a brighter raspberry-like acidity emerges! The medium-dark roast offers full caramel honey sweetness, with dark chocolate bittersweetness enveloping dried fruit sweetness, a thick and smooth texture, and notes of roasted nuts, cherry jam, and sweet tobacco.

Farm Information

Region: Comayagua

Elevation: 1,780 meters

Producer: El Retoño

2015 CoE Award: 13th Place

2016 Project Origin Best of Honduras Late Harvest Competition: 3rd Place

Flavor Description

Tropical fruits, starfruit juice, wine-soaked cherries, plums, dried mango. Thick texture, convergent acidity, sweet aftertaste, floral and melon aromas. The acidity initially shows plum and peach notes, but as the temperature drops, additional dried mango flavors emerge.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing Method

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90°C

Grind Size: Fuji Royal R-440 #3.5

Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, using 15g of coffee. First pour to 25g water for a 25s bloom. Second pour to 120g, then pause until the water level drops to half, then slowly pour until reaching 225g total. Extraction time around 2:00.

Analysis: A three-stage pour clearly distinguishes the front, middle, and back-end flavors of the coffee. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, pausing during pouring helps extend the extraction time.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A fruit-forward natural Honduran like this shines as a pour-over, but if you enjoy your coffee with milk, bean selection matters. Espresso machines and moka pots chase the same goal - a concentrated coffee base - and while water turns it into an Americano, milk turns it into a latte, so the same logic applies to both. Most espresso blends are medium-dark roasted so the latte shows rich nut and chocolate notes with a full coffee presence.

FrontStreet Coffee's Signature Blend and Black Cocoa Blend are ideal milk companions: with Brazil Cerrado beans leading the formula, lattes show layered nut flavors of almond, Marcona almond, and walnut, silky on the palate. If you want abundant crema, choose the Classic Blend or Commercial Blend, which contain a small amount of Robusta for more golden foam plus a fuller body and caramel aroma.

For pour-over coffee taken with milk, pick a medium-dark single origin whose flavors won't be masked - options described with chocolate, nuts, cream, or cocoa, such as FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Fazenda Rainha Estate, PWN Indonesia Golden Mandheling, or Papua New Guinea Paradise Bird. A little milk softens these darker roasts while letting their natural sweetness come through.