HONDURAS LAS DELICIAS natural

ABOUT LAS DELICIAS The Las Delicias farm was founded 45 years ago in the Montecillos community of the La Paz department in the southwestern part of Honduras near the Montecillos reserve. The indigenous inhabitants, Lenca, call this area “the place of stones” due to its mountainous terrain with dense jungle cover. La Paz has clayey loam soils and a moderate climate. Coffee trees here receive less sunlight, thus yielding smaller volumes but with better quality. Mostly, they grow in the shade alongside banana palms.

NATURAL PROCESSING After harvesting, the berries are washed and cleared of floaters. The ripest and highest quality cherries are sent to the patio, where they are evenly spread for drying, regularly stirred, and calibrated. Special canopies over the ground, known as “African beds,” are used for drying.

Natural processing takes about 3-4 weeks and is one of the longest methods. Coffee is dried until the skin of the berries acquires a bright, pronounced dark color, and the bean completely separates from the dried pulp, which is checked by the characteristic tapping of the grain inside the dried husk. The moisture content in the bean should reach 12%. At this stage, it is important to thoroughly mix the berries and select defects. After drying, the berries are collected in bags to allow the beans to exchange moisture. In the final stage, the beans are sent to a huller to remove all outer layers. The finished coffee is packed in 69 kg jute bags with GrainPro protection and sent for export.

Las Delicias HONDURAS Montecillos became the first territory in Honduras to receive Origin Denomination status: Café de Marcala.