Honduras Juan Contreras Natural Coffee

A Distinctive Natural-Process Coffee from the Mountains of Santa Barbara, Honduras

Some coffees are memorable not simply because of where they come from, but because of the combination of farmer, variety, elevation, processing, and careful roasting that brings everything together in the cup.

Our Honduras Juan Contreras Natural is one of those coffees.

Produced by Juan Contreras on his farm in the Las Flores municipality of the Santa Barbara department of Honduras, this specialty coffee represents a growing tradition of exceptional small-farm coffees coming from one of Honduras' most respected coffee-producing regions.

Grown at approximately 1,400 meters above sea level, this coffee is produced from the Pacas variety and processed using the natural method—a combination selected for coffee drinkers who appreciate sweetness, complexity, and a distinctive origin character.

From Santa Barbara, Honduras

The mountains surrounding Santa Barbara have become an important part of Honduras' emergence as a source for exceptional specialty coffee.

Elevation plays an important role.

At approximately 1,400 meters, Juan Contreras' coffee grows under cooler mountain conditions that generally allow coffee cherries to mature more slowly than they would at lower elevations. That extended development can help create the concentrated sugars and complex flavors prized in high-quality specialty coffees.

But altitude alone doesn't make a great coffee.

Great coffee begins with the farmer

Juan Contreras brings together the right growing environment, coffee variety, harvesting, and processing to produce a coffee worthy of being identified not simply by its country of origin, but by the name of the person who grew it.

That distinction matters to us.

When possible, we want our customers to know that coffee isn't simply a commodity labeled "Honduras." Behind an exceptional lot is a real producer, a real farm, and a series of decisions that ultimately determine what ends up in your cup.

Pacas: A Naturally Occurring Bourbon Variety

One of the most interesting characteristics of the Honduras Juan Contreras Natural is its variety.

This coffee is Pacas, a natural mutation of the famous Bourbon coffee variety.

Pacas was discovered in El Salvador and became valued by Central American coffee producers in part because its compact growth habit made it well suited to farm production. More importantly for specialty-coffee drinkers, Pacas retains the potential for the sweetness and cup quality associated with its Bourbon heritage.

Variety, however, is only part of the equation.

Place, elevation, ripeness at harvest, processing, storage, roasting, and brewing all influence what you eventually taste.

With Juan Contreras' coffee, Pacas is grown in the high elevations of Santa Barbara and then given another important treatment: natural processing.

What Does "Natural Process" Mean?

Most coffee drinkers know that coffee comes from a fruit, but it's easy to forget just how important that fruit is.

The coffee bean we roast is actually the seed of the coffee cherry.

With the natural process, harvested coffee cherries are dried with the fruit surrounding the seed rather than having the fruit removed immediately after picking, as occurs with washed coffees.

As the cherries dry, the seed remains in contact with the fruit for an extended period.

When natural processing is managed carefully, it can produce coffees known for pronounced sweetness, fruit character, fuller body, and greater flavor intensity.

It is also a demanding process. Drying must be carefully controlled to encourage desirable flavor development while avoiding unwanted fermentation or defects.

That's one reason a well-produced natural coffee can be such an interesting experience for the specialty-coffee drinker.

Roasted with Infrared Technology at Toomer's Coffee Roasters

Once this coffee reaches us, our job is different from Juan's—but equally important.

We want to roast it in a way that respects what is already present in the green coffee.

At Toomer's Coffee Roasters, we roast exclusively using infrared roasting technology. Rather than trying to impose an aggressive roast character on a distinctive specialty coffee, our objective is to develop the coffee carefully and produce a smooth, balanced cup while allowing its inherent character to remain recognizable.

We've been roasting specialty coffee since 2004, and coffees like the Honduras Juan Contreras Natural are exactly why we remain fascinated by the craft.

Two coffees can come from the same country and taste remarkably different.

Change the farmer, farm, elevation, variety, processing method, or roast development and you can create an entirely different coffee experience.

That is the beauty of true specialty coffee.

More Than Just "Coffee from Honduras"

If your experience with coffee has primarily involved blends or coffees identified only by country, the Honduras Juan Contreras Natural offers an opportunity to go deeper: You know the country. You know the region. You know the producer. You know the variety. You know the elevation. And now you know the processing method.

Producer: Juan Contreras
Origin: Santa Barbara, Honduras
Municipality: Las Flores
Variety: Pacas
Elevation: 1,400 meters above sea level
Process: Natural
Roaster: Toomer's Coffee Roasters
Roasting Method: Infrared roasted

Each detail tells another part of the story behind the cup.

Discover Honduras Juan Contreras Natural

Specialty coffee is ultimately about discovery.

It's discovering that coffee grown on one mountainside can be noticeably different from coffee grown somewhere else. It's learning how a variety such as Pacas can express itself when grown at high elevation. And it's experiencing how natural processing can transform the character of the finished coffee.

Most importantly, it's remembering that behind every exceptional coffee is a farmer.

For this one, his name is Juan Contreras.

From Juan's farm in the mountains of Santa Barbara, Honduras, to our infrared roaster here at Toomer's Coffee Roasters, a remarkable amount of work goes into producing something that may take you only a few minutes to brew.

We think that's something worth slowing down to appreciate.

Experience the Honduras Juan Contreras Natural and discover what a carefully grown, naturally processed Pacas coffee from Santa Barbara can bring to your cup.