Barista Magazine

JUN-JUL 2013

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HONDURAS DAY 3: SEED TO CUP/PABLO PAZ Fried plantains are the best. I have decided they should be part of every breakfast. After filling our bellies with them, we headed out to Gilberto Betillo's house, where we would do what they called a "Seed to Cup Tour," which is basically an agricultural crash course in coffee. We started off by talking about defects versus ideal germinable seeds. Gilberto showed us the importance of selecting the healthiest seed for proper germination. He displayed various examples of defects and deformities with seeds; some of them included triangulated seeds, elephant seeds, dwarf seeds, host seeds, and my favorite, the "American football," which looks like a football that hissing cockroaches can play with. Ideal beans should be the right size, color (whitish-green), and have a moisture content of 30–35 percent. After that, we quickly moved on to planting. First, a bed should be set with rich organic soil totaling in 25 centimeters of depth. Once the soil is arranged, lines are drawn on the surface approximately 2 centimeters apart. In between these linear grooves, seeds are placed face down, 1.5 centimeters apart, and 1 centimeter from the edge. After about 45 days, the beans will germinate and will be lifted up by their primary roots. After they have sprouted, it only takes a week or two for the leaves to shove off the shell. Soon each sprout is transferred into 8-inch cylindrical bags containing soil and air pockets. Before relocating the starts, a stake is driven into the center of the soil, making enough room for the main root to slip in and develop healthy lateral roots. The plant is nursed in that bag for the next six months until it's ready to be taken to its permanent home, la finca. Gilberto also schooled us on what he calls "driving the plant." The idea is to maintain a height of 1.7 vertical meters in order to drive energy back down the main root, causing forced growth on other parts of the plant for higher cherry production, and the same thing can be done to the branches. Learning from Gilberto was the absolute best—he is nothing short of a boss at his trade. After the "Seed to Cup Tour," we set off to meet Pablo Paz. We headed west to Las Olominas in La Iguala, which is in the department of 32 barista magazine Pablo Paz and his family own one of the most beautiful and well-respected farms in La Iguala. Here he takes us on the grand tour of his property. Lempira. When we arrived at Pablo's house, we found him sitting in front of his house on a rocking chair, holding his youngest daughter. His home is beautiful with lots of space, healthy green grass, playful Dalmatian puppies, and roaming wild turkeys. Pablo introduced us to his family and we sat and shared a homemade meal. Family-raised tilapia and chicken, and homegrown veggies for soup are a definite win. We drove up 1,525 meters, where Pablo showed us around his fields. He helped pick some ripe cherries, and we happily popped them in our mouths. To finally meet him and stand on his beautiful land was moving. I relished the knowledge that this would be the place I'd forever remember as my first coffee farm. Coffee cherries are delicious, but totally not what I was expecting. The skin is thick and leathery, and you have to squeeze the beans into your mouth to access the sweet mucilage. The taste reminded me of a cactus pear. Upon returning back to Pablo's house, we were welcomed with sweetened coffee, bread, and honey. This was absolutely the best honey I have ever tasted, with very bright lemonlike citrus notes. Pablo forgot to mention that he is also a beekeeper, and I forgot to mention that I am deathly terrified of bees. Pablo assured me that his bees were not aggressive and were only interested in making tasty honey, which stopped me from darting out of there stat. I told Pablo that he was quite the celebrity in the Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor area of Michigan. It's common to hear his name in conversation in various coffee shops, markets, and retail stores. He was pleased to hear that, replying, "I'm just taking care of my plants and family, and we are thrilled you love our coffee." I'm glad to be working with such an amazing person whose talents match his hospitality and kindness. DAY: 4 EL GRINGACHO/PROCESSING EXPERIMENTS Today we went to Chimizal, which is in Lempira right next to La Unión.

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