Honduras Coffee COE Lot 29# Introduction to Honduras Las Gemelas Estate Coffee

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Honduras Las Gemelas

Honduras Las Gemelas Estate

Region: Copan

Estate: Las Gemelas

Altitude: 1250 meters

Variety: Red Catuai

Processing Method: Natural

Region Introduction

Honduras is located in northern Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Gulf of Fonseca to the south. It shares borders with Nicaragua and El Salvador to the east and south, and Guatemala to the west. The country consists mainly of mountains and plateaus. With a tropical climate featuring moderate temperatures and abundant rainfall, it provides ideal conditions for coffee cultivation.

Honduras produces two varieties of excellent quality coffee that are highly regarded by coffee enthusiasts. One is "Highland Coffee" grown at altitudes of 1000-1500 meters, and the other is "Selected Highland Coffee" grown at altitudes of 1500-2000 meters, representing the highest grade of Honduran coffee.

Honduran coffee beans are large in size, uniform, with a consistent color and lustrous appearance. For harvesting convenience, farmers prune coffee trees to no more than 150 centimeters. Taller trees would require ladders for picking, which is time-consuming and could damage the tree by bending branches. Since each coffee fruit ripens at different times, manual harvesting is necessary to maintain quality, followed by selection of ripe fruits. Coffee cherries from the same branch often require several weeks to complete harvesting.

Honduran coffee can be divided into six major producing regions, mainly located in the western and southern Copan region, Opalaca, Montecillos, Comayagua, Agalta Tropical, and El Paraiso. The average cultivation altitude for specialty coffee in these regions is above 1,100 meters. The coffee varieties planted in these areas consist of 69% HG grade, 12% SHG, and 19% CS.

Copan Region:

Located between Copan, Ocotepeque, and Lempira areas, this region exhibits intense chocolate flavors, characterized by the sweetness of honey and caramel, with relatively subtle fruit notes. The cultivation altitude ranges from 1,000-1,500 meters, with harvest season from November to March.

Las Gemelas Estate

Neri Suaba Orianá Aguilar inherited the estate from her father and family. To ensure coffee quality, they send their coffee to the ARUCO ENTERPRISE association annually for cupping and quality control. The estate's name, Las Gemelas (meaning "The Twins"), was chosen by Neri to commemorate the birth of her twin daughters.

Historically, the Neri family cultivated Yellow Catuai. This year, Neri adjusted her cultivation approach by transplanting the existing Yellow Catuai and planting a batch of Red Catuai in its place.

She also broke from the family's traditional washed processing method, innovatively experimenting with natural processing for competition participation. Two experimental competition batches were processed using different fermentation times: one fermented for 72 hours before drying, and another for 90 hours before drying. This award-winning coffee bean comes from the 72-hour fermentation batch.

Variety (Red Catuai)

Red Catuai is a natural mutation of the Arabica Bourbon variety, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Compared to other coffee varieties, Red Catuai produces more compact fruits that are more challenging to harvest. It possesses strong disease resistance and is suitable for high-altitude cultivation, producing delicate, clean acidity.

Red Catuai exhibits medium acidity with a smooth mouthfeel and gentle, approachable flavor. It offers both excellent body and sweetness, making it versatile enough to blend with most coffee beans without significantly altering the overall flavor profile.

Natural Processing Method

This COE competition batch #29 from Las Gemelas Estate uses the natural processing method.

The natural processing method is the oldest and most original method for processing coffee beans. It involves placing harvested coffee cherries on patios, or sometimes directly exposing them to sunlight along roadsides. The cherries receive direct sun exposure (approximately 27-30 days) until moisture content reduces from 60% to about 12%. Beans processed using this method exhibit the lowest acidity, with pronounced sweetness and full body, though slightly lower clarity.

Green Bean Analysis

This coffee displays a light green color with considerable silver skin remaining on the surface. The beans are relatively round, short, and uniform. Aromatically, they emit acidic grassy notes and hints of pear.

Roast Profile Analysis

When FrontStreet Coffee's roaster examined this coffee, noting its moderate altitude and natural processing, they decided to use a lower charge temperature and employ a medium heat approach with gradual reduction to roast this coffee.

Roasting machine: Yangjia 800N (300g batch size)

When the drum temperature reached 175°C, the beans were immediately charged. Heat was set to 130, damper opened to 3. Temperature recovery point at 1'36". When drum temperature reached 140°C, damper was opened to 3.5, heat unchanged. At 151.1°C, bean surface turned yellow, grassy aromas completely disappeared, entering the dehydration stage. When drum temperature reached 176°C, heat was adjusted to 100, damper unchanged.

At 8'28", the bean surface developed uneven wrinkles and dark spots, with toasted bread aromas clearly transitioning to coffee fragrance, marking the prelude to first crack. At this point, careful attention to the first crack sound is crucial. First crack began at 9'00", damper adjusted to 4. Development time after first crack: 1'40", discharged at 196°C.

Agtron bean color value: 70.1 (above image), Agtron ground color value: 73.7 (below image), Roast Delta value: 3.6.

Cupping Notes

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

1. Flavor descriptions vary by individual and are influenced by water temperature and brewing methods. This cupping report provides descriptions based on the flavor wheel framework, using identical brewing equipment and parameters for reference purposes only.

2. Content is subject to timely revision based on new information. The latest updates should be considered authoritative.

Important Notice :

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