HONDURAS - Isaias Fernandez Parainema (Wet)

Passanger (Lancaster, PA)

Honduras - Isaias Fernandez Parainema 285g

While the refreshing citrus-like qualities that are traditionally associated with the parainema variety are certainly present, this particular parainema from Isaias Fernandez offers additional floral and tropical fruit notes that make this lot extra special. Look for key lime, black tea, and raspberry aromatics and a cup profile with delicately sweet flavors of kiwi, starfruit, lemon-lime, and wafer cookie.

Region: Santa Barbara
Producer: Isaias Fernandez
Altitude: 1600masl
Variety: Parainema
Process: Wet

This beautifully nuanced parainema microlot from the 2021 harvest is Passenger’s first purchase from Isaias Fernandez, an ambitious coffee farmer from the renowned coffee producing region of Santa Barbara, Honduras.

Isaias Fernandez is a third generation coffee farmer from Santa Barbara: a region that has earned international recognition as the source of many of the finest specialty coffees in all of Honduras. This particular coffee was produced at La Fincona, part of a broader coffee plantation near the small town of Las Flores that Isaias manages with his brother Nahun, and his father Andres. While Isaias, Nahun, and Andres each manage their own individual farms, they share central processing and drying facilities as a family.

While Passenger has proudly presented coffees from Santa Barbara producers for a number of years, this delightful lot from the 2021 harvest is the first that we have purchased from Isaias. It is a beautiful example of parainema: a hybrid variety from the Sarchimor group that earned international notoriety when a parainema selection from another farm in Santa Barbara, Finca Los Yoyos, took 1st place at the Honduras Cup of Excellence in 2015.

Isaias approached processing for this lot in a way that is quite traditional in Santa Barbara. After careful cherry selection to ensure even ripeness, the coffee cherries are pulped and undergo approximately 24 hours of dry fermentation. After three washes in clean water, the coffee is dried in a solar drier for approximately 10 days.

Despite the ongoing challenge of labor shortages during harvest due to the difficulty and expense of transporting pickers to the farm, the Fernandez family is pursuing ambitious plans for the future. In addition to the goal of improving their processing and drying facilities, the family hopes to cultivate new varieties on their farms, including gesha.

Passenger’s green buying team chose this particular lot, our first purchase from Isaias Fernandez, from a group of offer samples that we received from our sourcing partners shortly after the 2021 Santa Barbara harvest. In contrast to some parainemas from Honduras that can be mouth-wateringly citric but notably lacking in balance, we were immediately impressed by this coffee: clearly a parainema but unique in its elegant balance and nuanced flavor profile. We are proud to share this delightful selection from Isaias’ farm and look forward to more opportunities to support his project in the future.