La Esmeralda. Cafe De Honduras

Highlights

“Finca La Esmeralda belongs to Nelson Raúl Amado and his family. Nelson, a fifth-generation producer, founded his own exporting company, De La Finca (DLF), in 2013. He grew up on his great-grandfather's farm, Santa Lucía, before acquiring La Esmeralda in 2021 with the goal of cultivating experimental lots at scale. Its altitude gives the farm excellent climatic and atmospheric conditions for experimenting with, and producing exclusively, specialty coffee. Comayagua is a high-altitude region with volcanic soils: this coffee-growing area includes La Sampedrama, still little recognised in the coffee world even though it holds well-established farms with solid infrastructure. Nelson was drawn to it because it made consistent quality possible, even in experimental lots produced at larger scale. After buying the farm, Nelson and his family planted new varieties such as Geisha, Pink Bourbon and Parainema — results will take a few years, but everyone is impatient. La Esmeralda is managed by Joel Banegas, Nelson's cousin. Joel grew up on the family farm and oversees daily operations across 22 DLF family farms, a company that reinvests in local producer communities through long-term school projects and initiatives. This lot's process begins with selection: cherries are picked at their optimal ripeness, aiming for a uniform, specific colour. They are then placed in barrels for 42 hours to ferment in the absence of light and air, in an anaerobic environment — conditions that let the seed absorb the sugars produced by the fermentation of the fruit. After those 42 hours the cherries move first to patios for a faster sun dry, then onto African beds for slower drying. At 16% moisture the coffee is stored in the shade for 20 days before returning to the drying beds, where it waits slowly until it reaches 12% moisture. This keeps the coffee away from excessive temperatures that could kill the bean's embryo, producing a qualitatively stable lot that holds up over time.”