Erin’s whole family work in coffee, he inherited his land from his father, Pedro.

Erin Moreno

Honduras

We have been impressed with many Honduran lots over the last few years, but especially over the past couple of seasons. Quality seems to be improving at a very high rate, partly thanks to the work of visionaries like Benjamin Paz and his company Beneficio San Vicente in helping producers realise the quality of their coffees, and connecting them to like-minded roasters. The Santa Barbara mountain provides some challenges to those hoping to grow high quality coffee. It stretches from the border with Guatemala into the central highlands, home to some of the highest altitude in the country. Santa Barbara also sits close to a large area of jungle, leading to high humidity and a great deal of rainfall, especially during harvest season, which creates great difficulty in consistently drying coffees. The low night temperatures here, along with the wet climate, can also lead to ‘freezing’ of the coffee plant, where cherries cease to mature on the tree, leading to crop loss. However, all of these challenges only serve to strengthen the resolve of the farmers here, and the vast majority of Honduran Cup of Excellence winners have come from Santa Barbara since the inception of the competition here in 2005.