$ 22.00
Pacamara coffee beans are huge, and these Pacamara beans are honey-processed. Hence, big honey.
Breaking that down a bit more, in the honey process, coffee producers depulp the skin off of the coffee seed, but leave some or most of the sticky inner fruit (honey) on the bean for drying. It splits the difference between natural process (beans dried in the cherry) and washed process (all the fruit removed and washed off before drying), and when done well, honey-processed coffees can exhibit some of the best qualities of both. Fruity, but not as intense as a natural, and clean like a washed process, but often with a touch more body.
And Pacamara is a variety of arabica coffee. It’s a cross between Pacas, a more standard-size (and traditional-tasting) variety common in El Salvador, and Maragogype, the original “elephant bean” and a natural mutation found in Brazil in the 1870s. Pacamara has great flavor potential, but can be a bit tricky to roast. The beans are bigger, and often a touch less dense, and this affects the thermodynamics of roasting in a way that we’re not qualified to explain, and tbh this bio is way too long as-is.
Anywho, we like this coffee, and the folks behind it. This is our second year roasting both washed and honey-processed coffees from Cafénor in El Salvador, and we’re down with both the coffee and the ethos behind it.
Cafénor is a socially-minded private wet and dry mill that aims to produce coffee as ecologically as possible. Founded by Alejandro Valiente and operated by Alejandro and his daughter Valeria, the mill itself, where Cafénor processes coffee cherry or purchases fully-dried coffee from nearby producers and prepares it for export, is carbon-negative.
This Pacamara was grown by several farmers in Metapan, and honey-processed both on-farm and by Alejandro and the team at the Cafénor mill. Black cherry cola, a bit of green apple/lime brightness, with praline and chocolate syrup to round out the cup. Syrupy mouthfeel and sweetness as big as the beans themselves.
*** For roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions . And, for a primer on coffee processing, check out our Processing Basics Guide. ***
Pictured: Alejandro Valiente, founder of Cafénor El Salvador
$ 22.00
*** For roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions . And, for a primer on coffee processing, check out our Processing Basics Guide. ***
Pictured: Arlison Cortés, from Shelby's sourcing trip in 2023.
$ 20.00
It’s been a minute, but we’re excited to have coffee from East Timor's Letefoho district and Cafe Brisa Serena back at Huck!
Coffees from the Pacific islands can be round and sweet, but the wet hulled process that’s common in the region - in which the coffee’s protective parchment layer is removed before drying - lends itself to premature fade and vegetal, funky flavors. So, we specifically seek out washed coffees from the islands, dried in their parchment to preserve the goodness and keep out the funk. The tiny country of East Timor has been on the comeup the past few years, in large part by focusing on fully washed coffees.
Cafe Brisa Serena is a social enterprise that works with farmers in East Timor's Letefoho district to improve growing and processing practices, obtain organic certification, and access the specialty market. This particular coffee comes from 15 organic-certified family farms in the tiny village of Ducurai that have organized themselves into a group called Eratoi, and is all washed on-farm, rather than at a centralized mill. Eratoi translates to water spring, and the group has named itself after a waterfall near the village.
While this coffee does come from a different part of the world, it has quite a bit in common with a subtle, but nuanced washed coffee from Latin America. So if you’ve liked Huck coffees like Productores Cafénor from El Salvador or Atitlán Aprocafé from Guatemala, this could be your jam. We’re tasting pleasant toasted almond, a subtly-spicy cinnamon, buttery pastry, and just a hint of red apple-like fruitiness. Eratoi’s an approachable everyday drinker, and we’re glad to have East Timor back on the menu for 2024!
*** For roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions . And, for a primer on coffee processing, check out our Processing Basics Guide. ***
View full product details$ 20.00
Cafénor is relatively new sourcing for Huck, but back for year two, and we hope for the long haul!
Cafénor is the brainchild of Alejandro Valiente, and after spending some time with Alejandro and the Cafénor team this past February, we're hooked. Alejandro grew up producing coffee, and after cutting his teeth setting up Central America operations for a larger multinational exporter, he returned home with the goal of doing things right. He's a true believer in the push for more environmentally- and economically-sustainable coffee, and Cafénor puts carbon neutrality and farmer payments first and foremost in its coffee mission.
Cafénor works with a dedicated group of growers in the Metapan area year-after-year, coordinating group purchases of farming inputs and equipment, and aiming to deliver 80-85% of the final export price directly to the farmer. Millers and exporters (including the fair ones!) usually absorb a significantly larger cut of the export price. Moreover, Cafénor is fully carbon neutral, and the mill - where the team both processes and dries cherry from certain growers, and mills dried coffee for export, runs entirely on solar and wind power. It definitely does take the team a bit longer to mill coffee for export, given the limitations of a self-contained operation with limited electric supply, but it's a price they're willing to pay for the bigger picture.
Here at Huck, there’s no question that we love fruity, bright, complex coffees. But we also appreciate coffee that just tastes like good coffee, and that’s where this washed lot from the Productores (producers) de Cafénor hits. Sweet, straight-forward, no surprises. Just a damn good, pleasant Central American coffee, and one of theless-fruity coffee in our single origin lineup right now. There’s a touch of yellow apple and citrus there, but milk-friendly nougat, chocolate wafer, and toasted almond flavors are the stars of the cup here.
Beyond this washed lot from the group, we’re also looking forward to a fruitier, honey-processed Pacamara, but all in due time. With Productores Cafénor, we’re here to enjoy some straightforward, but delicious coffee from sustainably-minded folks.
*** For roasting schedule, shipping, receiving & additional information, please visit out Frequently Asked Questions . And, for a primer on coffee processing, check out our Processing Basics Guide. ***
Pictured: Alejandro Valiente
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