lil nouns coffee 003

Mint December 8-12, 2022
Redeem + Shipping December 13-15, 2022
lilnouns.coffee

- RARE COFFEE ALERT - 
HONDURAS BENJAMIN PAZ GESHA
PASSION FRUIT  JOLLY RANCHER  JASMINE 

Origin // HONDURAS 
Region // SANTA BARBARA 
Producer // BENJAMIN PAZ 
Variety // GESHA
Elevation // 1,680 M.A.S.L. 
Process // WASHED 

CONNECT
Benjamin Paz is a name synonymous with coffee in Honduras. His family owns the Beneficio San Vicente mill, where producers from all over the Santa Brbara mountain bring their coffee for milling and export. Since he started working in the family business in 2009, he has been instrumental in connecting coffee producers with roasters at all levels, no matter the amount of coffee they grow. He is the reason our friends were able to connect with other producers in Honduras, including Damian Chavez, Wilson Morales, and Nelin Guzman. 

In addition to everything Benjamin does in his community working directly with producers, he also has a farm of his own where he grows La Salsa Gesha. The coffee we get to share with you this month placed 5th in the 2021 Cup of Excellence. The same plants that produced this lot of coffee produced the lot that came in first place in this years Cup of Excellence competition. The intentional care put into his coffee feels like a reflection of the care that Benjamin puts into his community. Working tirelessly to connect smallholding producers to roasters like us, and ensuring that each lot of coffee that goes through the Beneficio San Vicente mill finds a home. Its a true thing of beauty, and we cant wait to share it with you.

EXPERIENCE
Benjamins La Salsa Gesha pops with an array of tropical flavors without losing the delicate florality and sweetness gesha coffee is renowned for. It opens with mango and passion fruit, and a balanced acidity that is reminiscent of a jolly rancher. These powerful flavors are offset by jasmine and fresh vanilla bean that lingers on your palate. This is a truly unique coffee worth experiencing, no matter what your coffee preference is, dont sleep on it! 

DEEP DIVE
Gesha coffee is slow growing, and sensitive to weather changes, but the unique flavor profile it produces makes it clear why its one of the most sought-after varieties in the coffee world. This variety can be traced all the way back to the 1930s in its name sake's forest in Ethiopia. It presents an incredibly delicate profile with nuanced sweetness, florals, and citrus notes that dont overpower the palate. 

REGION: SANTA BARBARA
The Santa Brbara region is a mountainous landscape in northwestern Honduras known for producing coffee with a bright and round flavor profile and common threads of stone fruit and sweet caramel. Benjamins coffee comes to us from an area of the Santa Brbara mountain called El Cedral, where the high elevations and cooler temperatures make it an ideal place to grow coffee. This area is absolutely littered with incredible products, and when we visit it feels like a home away from home, surrounded by two Best Friends Club producers, Wilson and Damian, and an exclusive partner of our friends at Dune Coffee, William Guzman. 

PROCESSING METHOD: WASHED
The washed process creates coffee that is clean, bright, with lots of sweetness, and typically is the best way to represent the intrinsic flavors of the coffee. In the washed process coffee is first depulped,before being fermented in water for 16-24 hours. From there the coffee is washed in a 2-3 hour agitated washing process to fully remove any remaining mucilage. Once the mucilage is fully washed from the seeds, the coffee is laid out to dry on raised beds, which allows more airflow for even drying.