Honduras El Naranjo Estate Introduction to Honduras El Naranjo Estate Catuai

FrontStreet Coffee - Honduras El Naranjo Estate Introduction

Honduras El Naranjo

Country: Honduras

Region: Marcala

Altitude: 1425 meters

Variety: Catuai

Processing: Washed

01 | Region Introduction

Honduras lies in central Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the south, Guatemala to the west, El Salvador to the southwest and Nicaragua to the southeast. It covers an area of 112,492 square kilometers with a coastline of approximately 1,033 kilometers. Apart from the coastal plains, the entire territory consists of mountains, with the highest elevation in the northwest reaching 3,000 meters and the south also exceeding 2,400 meters. The main rivers are the Coco, Patuca and Ulua. Rivers rising in the inland mountains crisscross the country, flowing into both oceans. Many basins and valleys have formed between the mountain ranges, with larger basins including the Sula and Repaguanale and main valleys including the Comayagua and Guajiquiro.

The country can be divided into 4 natural geographical regions: eastern lowlands, northern coastal alluvial plains, central highlands and Pacific coastal lowlands. Coastal islands are scattered, with main islands including the Bay Islands and the Tigre Islands in the Gulf of Fonseca. Honduras has complex terrain and diverse climates. The Central American coastal plains have a tropical rainforest climate with an average annual temperature of 31°C. The mountainous areas have a subtropical forest climate with an average annual temperature of 23°C, with the rainy season from June to November.

For coffee production, Honduras's geographical conditions are no less favorable than those of its neighbors Guatemala and Nicaragua. Honduras has 280,000 hectares of coffee plantations, predominantly small-scale farms, most smaller than 3.5 hectares. These plantations account for sixty percent of Honduras's total coffee production. Because the growing areas are mountainous, people hand-pick the coffee and then process it carefully to produce higher-quality beans. Honduras harvests three million bags of coffee annually, providing abundant, high-quality coffee and now ranking among the world's top ten coffee exporters.

El Naranjo Estate is located in Marcala, one of Honduras's most famous coffee-growing regions. Honduras has naturally suitable water and soil conditions, and El Naranjo grows a batch of high-quality coffee trees. The estate is often named after its shade trees, and El Naranjo's shade trees are tall wild orange trees. The wild orange trees have a very, very strong aroma, and the coffee grown here has a rare richness of sweetness. The orange trees also infuse the coffee with rich floral and fruit notes. The estate currently cultivates Caturra, Bourbon and Geisha. Besides fruit trees and coffee trees, the estate also has windbreaks to protect the coffee and fertilizers made primarily from coffee cherry husks.

In 2016, El Naranjo Estate won 14th place in the Cup of Excellence competition, and the female estate owner Carmen Fabiola Fiallos Melendez finally realized her dream of becoming a specialty coffee farmer. Marcala belongs to the La Paz region, and the coffee produced there can be compared with Honduras's other famous region, Santa Barbara. The Caballero family also has farms in Marcala, and their farm in La Paz won the championship in 2016.

Unlike large estates, the Dominguez couple are both estate owners and coffee farmers. Carmen only started working with coffee after getting married. The two cooperate well — she handles harvesting and drying, while her husband handles depulping. They hope to pass on not just a coffee farm to their two children, but also a passion for coffee. The family has been involved in coffee cultivation and promotion for generations. Roger is the third-generation estate owner, starting coffee cultivation from his grandparents' generation. Through the family's efforts, they now own 4 estates, with El Naranjo one of them. The entire estate covers 43 hectares with an average altitude of 1650m.

Honduran coffee beans are relatively large, uniform in shape and evenly colored with a glossy appearance. For harvesting convenience, farmers prune coffee trees to not exceed 150 centimeters in height. If they grow too tall, ladders would be needed for picking, which is not only time-consuming but could also damage the trees by bending branches. Since each coffee fruit ripens at a different time, maintaining good quality requires manual picking, followed by selection of only the ripe fruits. Cherries from the same branch often require several weeks to complete the entire harvest.

02 | Processing Method

Because the natural processing method has numerous disadvantages, the washed processing method was invented. Washed processing is currently the most widely used approach, with the biggest difference from natural processing being the use of fermentation to remove the mucilage layer.

Processing Steps:

1. Removing floaters: Coffee beans are poured into large water tanks. Underdeveloped, inferior beans float to the surface, while mature, full fruits sink to the bottom. By removing the floating beans, this step selects high-quality fruits. Typically, larger fruits represent better maturity.

2. Removing skin and pulp: A pulping machine removes the outer skin and pulp of the coffee fruit. (This leaves mucilage, parchment and silver skin.)

3. Fermentation: The purpose of this step is to use biological treatment to remove the mucilage. Coffee fruits processed by the pulping machine are placed in fermentation tanks for 16-36 hours, during which fermentation bacteria dissolve the mucilage.

4. Washing: After fermentation and mucilage removal, fermentation bacteria and impurities remain on the beans, so they are washed again. To ensure thorough cleaning, this step consumes a large amount of clean water. Finally, natural drying is used, so the flavor always carries a faint fruity aroma.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

This washed Honduras Catuai, with its orange-tree sweetness and gentle fruit, sits close to two FrontStreet washed lots. FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Gutiti Cooperative is a washed Ethiopian that highlights jasmine florals, bright citrus acidity, green tea and honey — clean, elegant and very drinkable as a hand-pour or a cold brew. If you prefer something rounder, FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 is a washed classic with hazelnut, cream, chocolate and caramel, balanced so that no single note stands out — an easy, polished cup for a slow morning.