Honduran Coffee | Los Olivos Estate - Chipmunk - Single Typica Variety Roasting and Pour-over

Honduras - Los Olivos Estate - Chipmunk - Single Typica Variety

Honduras Los Olivos Typica Washed

Estate: Los Olivos

Region: Opatoro, La Paz

Variety: Typica

Altitude: 1,570 m

Processing Method: Washed, naturally sun-dried for 15 days

Reference Flavor Notes: Dark chocolate, cream, rich and mellow

The original estate owner, Don Roberto, bought farms from several of his neighbors, and the plots he acquired kept the names of their previous owners. In this way he came to own a number of farms, and at his peak he was considered the largest coffee producer in the region — some even say in the whole country.

After Don Roberto passed away, his daughters Isaura Martínez and Dona inherited the estates. In rural Honduras at the time, women rarely received much schooling, and farm management was almost never entrusted to women; the sisters were no exception to that reality.

Guided by family and neighbors, they learned to run the estates step by step, tying every stage of production together with routine pruning and careful weed management. When planting new coffee trees they avoided chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides almost entirely. Through steady, patient work they built the farm's reputation and eventually won a regional coffee competition.

Isaura and Dona later worked with Pacayal Coffee on environmental stewardship and ecological preservation, documenting the events of the area and passing them down orally so they became part of local culture. Isaura has always believed that "to grow good coffee, you have to plant with feeling." She continues her father's devotion to coffee and personally tends each tree with patience.

Roasting Recommendations

Honduran coffee carries considerable body, and the Typica variety responds well to roasting with steady, balanced heat. A standard profile works like this: set the damper to 20% when charging the beans, open it to 50% at the browning point, and to 80% at first crack. Fine-tune the heat according to the rate of rise, in adjustments of roughly 5%. It is best to drop the roast at the very beginning of second crack, at a medium-dark degree, which brings out this coffee's body and its chocolate and caramel sweetness.

Pour-Over Recommendations

V60 dripper, medium grind, 1:16 coffee-to-water ratio, water temperature 87-89°C

Other Brewing Recommendations

French press: medium grind, 1:15 ratio, water temperature 86-88°C

Siphon: medium grind, 1:15 ratio, water temperature 86-88°C

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you enjoy this kind of mellow, chocolate-driven cup, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Fazenda Rainha is an easy next step. Low in acidity and beautifully balanced, it offers prominent nut and cocoa notes with a clear caramel sweetness, and a smooth, lingering finish that never turns astringent. It performs equally well as a pour-over, as espresso, or brewed in a moka pot.

For something on the darker, heavier end, FrontStreet's PWN Golden Mandheling from Indonesia is worth a try: a deep roast with barely any acidity, a thick and enduring body, and layers of herbal character and dark chocolate with just a whisper of earthiness — a great match for anyone who loves body and dislikes sourness.