Honduras: La Alondra, February

La Alondra belongs to Jose Giron, but he's now passed running the farm onto his son, Miguel. Miguel's 3 brothers also take an interest in the farm - it was his brother Alejandro who introduced Hasbean to La Alondra.

The farm surrounds the family's home and is in an area which has a lot of mist and cooler weather. The farm is heavily forested with native trees, including tall conifers on the higher parts where the farm looks out across the valley. The large amount of shade and shortage of labour has meant a lot of the coffee plants grow tall - even the Villa Sarchi, which is considered a dwarf varietal. Around half the plants on the farm are about 30 years old, with the others planted in the intervening years to slowly renovate and improve the farm.

The farm mostly has planted Villa Sarchi (from Costa RIca) and Caturra (from Guatemala), with small amounts of Bourbon, Catuai and Maracaturra. The farm has a wetmill area above the house where coffee is processed before being dried and sent to San Vincente for dry milling and export.

In total, 15 lots were delivered from the farm to San Vincente in February and March. San Vincente had kept them all separate for us to taste and there was great consistency in quality. Although they were uniformly good, we noticed the flavour profile shift slightly as the harvest went on, so we decided to split the coffees up and form two lots - one from February pickings (this coffee!) and one from March pickings. What's the difference? February is softer and juicier, with toffee sweetness, whilst March is crisp and clean with dark chocolate and lime.

Sticky toffee pudding in a cup. It finishes with a gentle pear and there's a delicate orange zest as it cools, which just helps that sticky toffee pudding flavour sing even more.

• Country: Honduras
• Department: Francisco Morazán
• Municipality: Lepaterique
  
• Village: Piedra Rayada
• Producer: José Hernán Girón
• Farm: La Alondra
• Altitude: 1,700 m.a.s.l.
• Picked: February
• Varietals: Caturra, Catuai, & Villa Sarchi
• Process: Washed

Tasting notes: Sticky toffee pudding, pear, orange zest.

Cup of Excellence Cupping Scores

• Clean cup: (1–8): 6
• Sweetness: (1–8): 7
• Acidity: (1–8): 6
• Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6.5
• Flavour: (1–8): 6.5
• Aftertaste: (1–8): 6
• Balance: (1–8): 6
• Overall: (1–8): 6.5
• Correction:(+36): +36
• Total: (max. 100): 86.5

Roasting Information
Medium-dark: take this through the gap and up to the edge of second - it may need a little more heat than typical to get there.