Description of the Flavor of Finca El Picacho washing Kaduai in the Coffee production area of Massaguara, Honduras

Apolonio Canales Portillo is a coffee producer from the Pozo Negro community of the nearby town of Masaguara, located in the Intibuca district of the mountains of Nicaragua, not far from El Salvador.

Apolonio, who has always lived in the area, started growing coffee when he managed to buy 8 hectares of land to build a Finca El Picacho a decade ago. At present, there are only five hectares of coffee planting area. Because of the small size of the farm, Apolonio prefers to focus on getting high-quality products and higher prices. He recently invested in a solar dryer, paying special attention to cherry picking, which is carried out in multiple steps, collecting only the most mature cherries.

After harvest, there are further options to remove any immature cherries that may be harvested by carelessness. Remove the skin and mucus of cherries with a mechanical desizing agent. The pachment is fermented for 12 hours at the first time, and then sent to the washing channel to determine the density and remove which less mature beans. Then wash the remaining beans in clean water for an extra 12 hours, and then dry them in a more typical way than in South America: place the coffee beans on an elevated bed for 11 to 20 days and cover overnight at warmer times of the day. Finally, the parchment is removed by mechanical method, and then the raw beans are packed in vacuum.

In the cup, this kind of coffee is full-bodied, floral and very complex. It has the taste of grapefruit and almost the sweetness of candy. It can be roasted according to the custom espresso.

Country of origin: Honduras

Area: Masaguara-Intibuca

Farm: Finca El Picacho

Farmer: Apollonio Canales Portillo

Altitude: 1400 m

Variety: Kaduai

Treatment: washing treatment, drying on African bed

Cup test flavor: grapefruit, flower aroma, candy sweetness