Honduras Finca Las Canas

A few years ago, Chuck Rabonowitz called me and told me that he had some Honduran beans from a friend's farm. He wanted me to roast them for him. I never say no- you never know whether that batch of beans will be the best coffee you've ever tasted. I am quite prejudiced against old coffee beans, though-that is, coffee that was picked 3 or more years ago. Most of the time, I find that older beans aren't stored properly with the proper humidity. They are either dried out or over fermented. Chuck told me that the beans were three years old. Great incredulity was kept private. I invited him to Chazzano and I roasted the beans. Shocking. The "old" beans were bursting with berry, specifically dark cherry, cinnamon and it was a lovely medium bodied coffee.

Carlos, the plantation owner, has a full-time job in the states and owns the farm in Honduras. It is extremely difficult to grow high quality coffee and to ship it to the states. There are so many crucial steps that occur months before you experience the coffee at Chazzano Coffee Roasters.
 1. Planting the coffee and ensuring that the soil quality remains high.

 2. Picking the best ripened coffee cherries.

3. Drying and processing:

4. Bagging, Shipping and delivering- If the coffee beans are not dried carefully, once they are bagged and shipped, the coffee beans will continue to ferment and the coffee will be unusable.

Chazzano Coffee Roasters has continued to roast the Honduras Finca Las Canas ever since I met Chuck, but now we have crazy fresh samples of the coffee just picked in November 2011! With my first cupping of the coffee, there are some notes of pomegranate with a leathery, smokey finish. I wonder how the coffee will change over the next 3 months, 6 months or 1 year. Coffee beans are just organic matter.  As they break down, the different natural chemicals will change and produce different flavor profiles over time. I don't have enough of this coffee to sell it by the pound, but come in for a great cup of coffee from beans that were picked in November.

Here is Chuck, (on the right), the supplier of the Honduras Finca Las Canas with one of the coffee farmers: