The Coffee of Honduras

When you drive through the highlands of Western Honduras, you are traveling through some of the finest coffee country in the world.  Throughout the hills of Honduras, there are over 90 million Honduran coffee bushes in cultivation. 

Honduran coffee, the majority of which is a rich arabica coffee, is used mainly by retailers for blending.  However, in the past few years, the coffees of Honduras have been winning awards in international competitions that once were dominated by Brazil, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. Now, discerning coffee drinkers all over the world are discovering the delicious coffees of Honduras.

The quality of coffee is determined by:

·  The elevation.  The higher the elevation, the denser the bean and the better the coffee.

·  The soil.  The rich soils with a variety of nutrients are ideal for quality coffee.

·  The processing, handling and transport.  Beans must be properly handled during processing, and stored with proper humidity and temperature control.

·  The climate. Coffee grown in shade is superior to the coffee grown in the sun, and is a more sustainable method.  Adequate rainfall is also critical for a successful crop, since most coffee farms have no irrigation systems.

·  When a bean is picked.   To reach its fullest maturity, flavor and taste, a bean is best picked at its “red- berry” stage.  Since coffee beans don’t ripen uniformly, multiple pickings throughout the year are required for a good crop of coffee.

·  The quality of the coffee bush - Coffee bushes will bear their first harvestable fruit 3-5 years after being planted.  Bushes may last as long as 15-20 years. 

Honduran coffee is of high quality, as it is shade-grown in the mountains, in rich volcanic soil, and recieves more than adequate rainfall throughout the year.

There are two main species of the coffee plant, coffea robusta and coffea arabica.   Arabica coffee is considered to have a better flavor than robusta, which, compared to arabica, tends to be bitter and less flavorful. For this reason, about three fourths of coffee cultivated worldwide is of the arabica variety, including the coffee grown in Honduras.  Beans from different countries or regions usually have distinctive characteristics such as flavor, aroma, body, and acidity.

The Process of Making Coffee

Coffee berries and their seeds undergo multi-step processing before they become the roasted coffee with which most consumers are familiar.

First the ripe coffee berries are picked by hand.  Pickers must work fast to harvest the ripe berries, which can be identified by their bright red color.  Overripe berries produce an inferior grade coffee, and unripe green berries produce tasteless coffee.  The annual harvest is labor intensive, and the Honduran school calendar's annual vacation (November through January) revolves around it. Often, the entire community will work picking coffee during the harvest.

Right after picking, it's time for processing. This is done in one of two ways:

Dry method - the simplest and cheapest method, the harvested berries are spread out to dry in the sun for 7-10 days, or until the outer shell of the berries turns brown.
Wet method - in the wet method, the pulp of the coffee berry is removed from the beans and a pulping machine washes away the skin and pulp. The beans are put in fermentation tanks for 12 to 48 hours. The beans are then dried, either by the sun or by mechanical dryers.

Once the beans are dried, all of the layers are removed from the beans. Beans are then graded and sorted, first by size, then by density. Coffee is shipped unroasted. This is called green coffee. About 7 million tons of green coffee is shipped worldwide each year.

The next step in the process is the roasting of the green coffee. The roasting process is an important step, as it gives the beans their distinctive flavor.  During roasting, the bean will turn brown and oily.  Pyrolysis, the chemical reaction of the heat and coffee essence is what produces the flavor and aroma of coffee. Roastmasters use sound, sight and smell to determine when the beans are roasted to perfection. Roasting time affects the color and flavor of the final brew, so the length of the roasting period depends on the type of coffee desired. Darker roasts are generally smoother, and have a more sugary flavor. Lighter roasts have more caffeine, resulting a slight bitterness and a greater strength.

After roasting, coffee beans must be ground and brewed in order to create the beverage. Grinding the roasted coffee beans can done at a roastery, in a grocery store, or at home. Coffee beans may be ground using an electric grinder or by hand. The size of the ground bean determines the type of brew.

Coffee may be brewed by several methods: by boiling, dripping, steeping, or pressure.  Most Hondurans simply pour the coffee grinds into boiled water and use a “sock” to separate out the grinds.  

Once brewed, coffee may be presented in a variety of ways: black, with sugar, with milk or cream, hot or cold.  Hondurans enjoy coffee with plenty of milk and sugar, and usually serve coffee with a sweet bread or pastry.