Honduras - Finca La Única

Farm:

Finca T focuses on making lives better through coffee and they focus on social projects for workers, like a daycare service, school, food hall and an infirmary. Through these services Finca T strives to improve the lives of farm workers and their families. Their goal is to provide a sustainable income for families in the region by way of coffee producing and uplift their community and these services allow the families to not worry about their children being left behind and they can still be with them while they are on the farm.

You can see this commitment in sustainability in the rehabilitation of Finca La Unica. When Finca La Unica was brought into the family in 2016, the coffee plots were overgrown and much of the farm was without vegetation as it was pastureland for cow grazing. Without the vegetation, erosion damaged much of the farm and little vegetation growth was possible without the shade protection of the trees. The family got to work rehabilitating the farm through tree replanting to introduce biodiversity as well as habitat for animals. 

Variety:

• Parainema: Bred by IHCAFE by pedigree selection of T5296 , Parainema is a compact tree, with large bean sizes. It has good yield and good cup coffee quality when grown on higher altitudes. Paraneima is resistant against coffee leaf rust and not completely susceptible against coffee berry disease.
• Obata: Another pedigree selection, this one is a hybrid between Villa Sarchi and Timor Hybrid 832/2, pedigree selection done by Instituto Agronomico (IAC) of Sao Paulo State in Campinas, Brazil. It is a compact tree with large bean sizes and with high yield potential. We have roasted this variety for the first time when we had Felipe Croce’s coffee last year in the roastery and it was a favorite in the bar.
• Lempira: Another Timor related variety Lempira is a compact tree, with  medium bean sizes. It is susceptible to diseases and coffee rust and has a high yield potential. This is the first coffee we are roasting a Lempira variety, much like Paraneima.

Process:

Prior to picking, the farm team measures Brix levels of the different lots at Finca La Unica to find the areas with the highest brix content. Experience has taught the farm team that the higher the brix level, the higher potential for an exceptional natural process coffee. Typically, above 23 is the goal. Once picked, daily pickings are weighed and then transported 40 minutes away to Finca Terrerito where the family's wet mill is. The cherries skip the wet mill and are placed on our patio or raised beds to start the drying process. The goal is to bring the moisture down to 11.5%. Cherries on the raised bed and patio are carefully turned throughout the day to promote an even drying.