We're very happy to see the return of this washed gem from Honduras this year. This is a Parainema variety from Carlos Alberto Portillo Flores and his farm 'Don Pacho'.

Don Pacho is a 3.5 hectare farm in the Santa Barbara department which is in the north of Honduras bordering Guatemala. 1.5 hectares of the 3.5 is under dedicated coffee production.

This Parainema variety is a hybrid developed by the Honduran Coffee Institute to be more resistant to disease and climate change. Cup quality has exceeded expectations, even going so far as winning first place at the Honduran Cup of Excellence competition in 2015 and 2017. In addition to the original Bourbon variety and this Parainema, Oscar has planted Geisha trees which is definitely something to look out for in the future.

Oscar is the third generation of coffee producers, with his grandfather having worked in the same lands where he planted Bourbon coffee more than 40 years ago. Over the coming years Oscar's father continued working with coffee and improving the plantations. Oscar helped his father on the farm whilst growing up and after his studies started working in a clothing factory. Five years ago, Oscar's father decided to give him part of the farm as an inheritance, so Oscar quit his job and dedicated himself completely to coffee.

Parainema was the first micro-lot from Oscar and clearly it was well received so he repeated the work this season. The lot has undergone a washed process: the cherries are de-pulped every day after picking, then, the parchment is put into fermentation tanks where it is dry fermented for 22 hours. Next, the parchment is rinsed in the tank four times with clean water. The parchment is then pre-dried on raised beds next to the wet mill for 2 days before being taken to the parabolic solar dryer for around 14 days. During the drying phase the parchment is sorted by hand to remove any defective beans.