Honduran coffee had been absent from the top ranks of the specialty coffee market but that is changing. It has all the environmental factors on its side: soil, altitude, climate, and farmers increasingly better-trained in agricultural practices. All its neighbors have sophisticated coffee production: Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. But what has been lacking is good coffee processing and transporting, capital and a distinct "name" in the consumer market. It has been known mostly as a source for commercial coffee, not specialty. This means that even a good quality Honduran does not fetch a good price (and in fact many from Copan and Santa Barbara districts are smuggled into Guatemala and sold as such). Without a premium price for quality, the farmer, the mill and the exporter have no incentive to incur the added expense that would realize the coffee's potential. So Honduran coffee ends up as a good mild blender, and not as a single-origin or farm-specific coffee. It is a vicious cycle.

In 2003, I was able to judge at the first Honduras Specialty Coffee Competition held in San Pedro Sula, and my ulterior motive on this trip was to find some truly special Honduran coffees for Sweet Maria's. That event was the precursor of the Cup of Excellence competitions, which have been held each year since then, and helped uncover high quality coffees in Honduras. For our part, we are buying really good coffees and paying way over Specialty prices.

Honduras, like other origins, it is varied, so I can't speak about it as a single entity: coffees from Copan differ from Lempira or Santa Barbara or El Paraiso. In general, we have seen lower acidity from Hondurans lately and greater sweetness, which makes it a great choice as a Central American component in espresso. The largest growing region is Santa Barbara, as well as Copan, Ocotepeque, Lempira, La Paz and El Paraiso in the South. Coffee grown between 1500 and 2000 meters is given the highest designation of SHG; Strictly High Grown. The overall cup character is less acidic than other Central Americans, with distinct sweet caramel flavors in the cup.

For more about Honduras, see my notes from that original 2003 Honduras Specialty Coffee Competition, and later my 2006 Honduras Cup of Excellence trip