Isaias Fernandez is a third-generation coffee farmer from Santa Barbara: a region that has earned international recognition as the source of many of the finest specialty coffees in Honduras. This particular coffee was produced at La Fincona, part of a broader coffee plantation near the small town of Las Flores that Isaias manages with his brother Nahun and his father Andres. While Isaias, Nahun, and Andres each manage their own individual farms, they share central processing and drying facilities as a family.

This lot is a beautiful example of parainema: a hybrid variety from the Sarchimor group that earned international attention when a parainema selection from another farm in Santa Barbara, Finca Los Yoyos, took 1st place at the Honduras Cup of Excellence in 2015.

Isaias approached processing for this lot in a way that is quite traditional in Santa Barbara. After careful cherry selection to ensure even ripeness, the coffee cherries are pulped and undergo approximately 24 hours of dry fermentation. After three washes in clean water, the coffee is dried in a solar drier for approximately 10 days.

Despite the ongoing challenge of labour shortages during harvest due to the difficulty and expense of transporting pickers to the farm, the Fernandez family is pursuing ambitious plans for the future. In addition to improving their processing and drying facilities, the family hopes to cultivate new varieties on their farms, including gesha.