25 Grams of Bloom's Honduras Buy Now

  • Producer: JosĂ© Francisco Villeda aka “Panchito”
  • Origin: Santa Rosa de Copán, Capucas, Honduras
  • Altitude: 1700 masl
  • Variety: Caturra
  • Process: Honey
  • Profile: dark chocolate, caramel, hints of apple
  • Roasted by: Bloom Specialty Coffee

From bean to bottle

With temperatures rising and the pandemic finally easing off, 25 Grams is delivering yet another powerful cold brew edition. Given our proximity to Italy, we reckoned it’d be time to produce something more reminiscent of our neighbors’ centuries-old coffee tradition. So, we partnered up with Alberto Polojac from Bloom Specialty Coffee in Trieste, who sourced the green coffee himself from a passionate smallholder coffee farmer in Honduras. Find out below what makes this coffee and its producer so special!

Lukas and Alberto with traditional Bloom bowler hats and a mediocre moustache at Bloom Specialty Coffee, Trieste, Italy
Lukas and Alberto with traditional Bloom bowler hats and a mediocre moustache @Bloom Specialty Coffee, Trieste, Italy Photo: 25 GRAMS

ORIGIN: HONDURAS

This is actually the first time that Honduras features in the famous 25 Grams line-up. Although not widely known, Honduras has now become Central America’s largest coffee producer and is considered the world’s 5th largest producer after Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia and Ethiopia. With around 6 million coffee bags a year by 2013, it produces more than Costa Rica and Guatemala combined. Around 110,000 families are involved in coffee, which is grown at 1,000 and 1,600 masl across the regions of Copán, Montecillos, Agalta, Opalaca, Comayagua and El Paraiso. Honduran coffees are often very balanced and clean with abundant fruity qualities.

While the arrival of coffee in Honduras dates back to the end of the 18th century, most of its coffee was usually destined for the commodity market. Since around 2001, however, Honduras has begun to produce some excellent high-quality coffee, using mainy Bourbon, Caturra, Typica and Catuai varieties. The expansion and improvement in coffee production over the past 20 years is at least partially due to its national coffee institute, the Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE), which was established in 1970 and has supported local farmers since then.

Two bottles of 25 Grams Cold Brew Coffee in front of a sack of coffee

FARMER: PANCHITO

One of these hard-working coffee farmers is Francisco Villeda, aka Panchito, whose honey-processed coffee we chose together with Alberto from Bloom Specialty Coffee. Panchito’s story is quite unique since he had never actually envisioned to become a coffee farmer. As a young adult, he chose to become a soldier in the Honduran army instead. During a terrible accident, however, he lost one of his arms and was forced to return home to his family in Copán. Luckily, despite his disability, he soon found employment in the Capucas cooperative and, after saving up some money, he was able to take over the family plantation and built a small coffee processing unit for his coffee. His plantation today extends over 3 hectares at an altitude of around 1575 masl.

Alberto with Panchito on his coffee farm in Copán, Honduras
Alberto with Panchito on his coffee farm in Copán, Honduras Photo: Bloom Specialty Coffee

COFFEE BEANS AND PROCESSING

The outstanding coffee beans you will find in batch #12 are Caturra varieties, which are a natural mutation of the Bourbon variety and usually offer a chocolaty, caramelly and rich taste profile. In addition, Panchito’s coffee has undergone a so-called “honey process”, which means that after picking the coffee fruits from the plant, they get pulped and then dried with some or all of the mucilage sticking to the seed’s parchment. Apart from the common “washed” process, the honey process is very popular in Central America as it leads to less-pronounced acidity, more body and more fruited flavors, which perfectly describes our batch #12.

IMPORT AND ROASTING: BLOOM SPECIALTY COFFEE

Both the import and the roasting was done by Bloom Specialty Coffee from Trieste, Italy. 25 Grams and Bloom have maintained a great relationship for quite a few years now and we’re absolutely thrilled that we finally managed to co-produce this splendid cold brew. Panchito’s coffee was the perfect choice for this collaboration since Alberto knows him personally and managed to import some of his excellent green coffee.

Representing the third generation of a coffee trading family in Trieste (Imperator), Alberto is also Italy’s first ever Q-grader and a specialty roaster with a lifelong experience in the sector. For batch #12 he was once again able to apply his artistry and transform the raw material into superbly roasted beans that bring out all the chocolatey, caramelly and fruity characteristics of this Honduran coffee.

The impressive roasting facility at Bloom
The impressive roasting facility at Bloom Photo: 25 GRAMS

Now combine that with our 25 Grams magic and a 15 hours cold-water bath and voilà, you end up with this beauty…Salud!