9. Honduras – Hacienda Monte Cristo

Hacienda Monte Cristo has belonged to the Medina family for more than five generations, with its coffee growing history stretching back to 1916.

Located near Veracruz in western Honduras, close to Santa Rosa de Copán, the estate covers approximately 279 hectares.

Coffee grows at around 1,670 metres above sea level, placing it firmly within Honduras’s Strictly High Grown category.

Higher elevation means cooler growing temperatures, allowing cherries to mature more slowly and helping develop greater sweetness and density.

The farm grows an unusually broad range of varietals, including Anacafe 14, Etiozar, Marcelleza, Amarillo, Catuai, Catuai Rojo, Caturra and Java.

The coffee is also certified Organic and this lot uses the yellow honey process which means after harvesting, the outer skin of the coffee cherry is removed but some of the sticky fruit mucilage remains around the bean. The coffee is then dried on raised beds. Leaving some mucilage in place can increase sweetness and body while retaining more clarity than a fully natural process.

Honduran producers often face challenging drying conditions because rainfall can continue through parts of the harvest. Investment in raised beds, controlled drying and improved processing has therefore played an important part in the growth of Honduras as a speciality coffee origin.