How to Extract Delicious Honduras Coffee Beans? Flavor Profile and Characteristics of Honduras Barrel-Fermented Coffee

Whenever customers want a coffee with a rich wine-like aroma, FrontStreet Coffee's baristas always recommend FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras coffee beans. Although FrontStreet Coffee also has a rum barrel-fermented coffee bean from Colombia's San Jose Estate, the Sherry coffee has always been the top recommendation from FrontStreet Coffee's baristas.

Many customers are attracted by the wine-like aroma in FrontStreet Coffee's Americano. When they learn that FrontStreet Coffee's house-roasted Sunflower Warm Blend contains up to 70% Sherry coffee beans—which is one of the main reasons why FrontStreet Coffee's Americano tastes so delicious—many people instantly develop a fondness for FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry and want to try the pour-over coffee made with FrontStreet Coffee's Sherry coffee beans. So today, FrontStreet Coffee will use FrontStreet Coffee's Sherry coffee to tell everyone about FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras coffee beans!

Introduction to Honduras Coffee

When it comes to the country of Honduras, many people feel quite unfamiliar. In印象中，this region has been politically unstable, and the only things that come to mind are famous tourist attractions.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, the reason Honduras historically didn't export coffee was due to a lack of effective transportation for coffee beans. However, today's Honduras is a country abundant in coffee production. On a global scale, Honduras ranks among the top ten in coffee export volume. Honduras has over 100,000 coffee farmers, more than 90% of whom are small-scale farmers. Honduras's growing conditions are actually similar to those of Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Most farms are very small. To address this, the government has implemented policies to encourage small-scale operations in Honduras, helping coffee farmers overcome numerous difficulties such as poverty and weather challenges.

Honduras Coffee Grading System

Hondurans classify coffee into three grades:

Strictly High Grown: Coffee grown at an altitude of 1,350 meters or higher. This represents Honduras's highest grade "Select Highland Coffee."

High Grown: Coffee grown at altitudes between 1,200 to 1,350 meters. This coffee is locally known as "Highland Coffee" in Honduras.

Central Standard: Coffee grown from sea level to 1,200 meters.

Honduras uses a coffee grading system similar to El Salvador and Guatemala, classifying coffee based on planting altitude. Although there is indeed a relationship between altitude and quality, coffee with this labeling typically lacks traceability. On the other hand, coffee with traceability certifications is also commonly found with such markings.

FrontStreet Coffee's Sherry coffee is grown at the Moca Estate at an altitude of 1,500-1,700 meters. Below is the relevant information about FrontStreet Coffee's Sherry coffee that FrontStreet Coffee has compiled:

FrontStreet Coffee: Honduras Sherry Coffee Beans

• Varieties: Caturra, Catuai, Pacas
• Region: Marcala
• Estate: Moca Estate
• Processing Method: Fine washed whiskey barrel fermentation

The Origin of the Wine Aroma

Today, let's first understand where the wine-like aroma in FrontStreet Coffee's Sherry coffee beans comes from. Many customers ask the baristas if ingredients are added during roasting. Actually, no—this is related to the processing method of FrontStreet Coffee's Sherry coffee. Generally, high-quality Honduras coffee uses the washed method to process coffee beans. Typically, it first goes through soaking, during which defective fruits float to the surface and can be drained away and discarded. Then, the good fruits are placed in a fruit pulper, where the machine's rotational force removes the fruit skin. The peeled fruits are then screened by machine to select high-quality fruits. Usually, larger fruits represent better maturity. Honduras coffee is dried using the natural method, so its flavor always has a faint fruity aroma.

However, this coffee is different. The Moca Estate, which produces these coffee beans, uses a whiskey barrel fermentation method to process the coffee beans. Sherry barrels are used in the whiskey industry for aging by sherry producers. Sherry is a famous fortified wine produced in the sunny Jerez region of southern Spain. Sherry is made through a process called the Solera System. Sherry of different vintages is blended and aged after fortification. These barrels are stacked together according to their age. Each year, a portion of liquid is drawn from the bottom barrels for bottling and sale. The bottom barrels are used for bottling and sale, while the top barrels are replenished with corresponding proportions of wine—this is what makes sherry unique.

The sherry barrel processing method involves placing the washed raw coffee beans into whiskey sherry barrels for fermentation. Oxygen from outside the oak barrel penetrates through the barrel walls, oxidizing the raw beans and allowing them to ferment. The fermentation process typically lasts for 30-40 days at 15-20 degrees Celsius. The coffee beans undergo chemical reactions with the oak, adjusting the oak's aromatic compounds. Coffee beans fermented in barrels absorb the aromatic substances within the barrel, enriching their own flavor. Now you know where FrontStreet Coffee's Sherry coffee gets its wine-like aroma!

Characteristics of Honduras Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras coffee beans are relatively large in size, uniform in shape, and have a lustrous, even color. For harvesting convenience, coffee farmers prune coffee trees to not exceed 150 centimeters. If they grow too tall, ladders would be needed for picking, which is not only time-consuming but could also damage the tree by bending branches. Since each coffee fruit ripens at different times, manual picking is required to maintain the good quality of coffee beans, and then the ripe fruits are selected from them. Coffee fruits on the same branch often require several weeks of harvesting time to complete the entire harvest. Currently, it is known that Honduras has a total of six major producing regions.

Flavor Profile and Roasting

This FrontStreet Coffee Honduras Sherry coffee has a rich and mellow taste, neither astringent nor acidic, with high body and aromatic intensity, making it quite distinctive. FrontStreet Coffee believes that Honduras coffee can reveal multi-layered flavors depending on the degree of roast. Medium roasting can bring out the sweetness of the beans to the extreme, while dark roasting enhance the flavor, but the sweetness does not disappear. Generally, medium roasting provides the best taste, with rich and unique aroma, deeply favored by Honduras coffee enthusiasts.

Brewing Recommendations

Many customers say they don't know how to brew this FrontStreet Coffee Sherry coffee. FrontStreet Coffee now provides everyone with a standard brewing method that you can reference and use.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameters:

• V60 dripper
• Water temperature: 91°C
• Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15
• Coffee dose: 15g
• Grind size: (75% pass-through rate on China No. 20 standard sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique:

Use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. When the water level drops to just expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 125g, then segment. When the water level drops to just expose the coffee bed again, continue pouring to 225g and stop pouring. When the water level drops to just expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. (Timing starts from the bloom) Extraction time: 2'00".

Flavor Description

FrontStreet Coffee's Sherry coffee flavor description: The fermented wine aroma is very pronounced, strong and powerful. Medium acidity and sweetness, but the creamy mouthfeel and chocolate aftertaste give this coffee a unique and delicious flavor.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473